I've only gots mah high schule deploma there OP, C'mon. All kidding aside, large amounts of education mean dink all in many circles. I graduated HS with decent grades for someone who could have done way better. After that it was a choice of college or working for Ford. Guess what I as well as many university graduates with this and that did. Hell, 9 times out of 10 people with Engineering backgrounds end up making $15/hr. To me, it depends on where you live and what you have to offer. Someone with Aerospace background is gonna suffer in a farm town in the midwest somewhere. Adapt to the surroundings or move to opportunities.

Practical education to me is trades. Pretty hard to farm out service work to China. However, with the amount of places loosing a) industry b) lack of housing development and so on, now it's become too many qualified people for not enough work. The double edge sword is that even if people wanted education, how can they pay for it? Schooling is fine, I now am educating myself for the current economic condition and the factors involved to see why day to day is crap.

Sorry if I mistook this thread but it seems kinda arrogant or risks bieng. Believe me, I've made some pretty "book smart" people feel pretty stupid more than once.

BS in Chemistry and Life Science from the United States Military Academy
About to start my second year of medical school at University of Texas at Houston

Don't be so sensitive. I was talking about higher education. Even so, that doesn't mean every teacher is out to push their political, or social, agenda on their students. At the High School level, I'd say that the main agenda is to teach subject matter. Any bias that slips in is probably unintentional. The agenda for each individual teacher is going to be different. As you move up to the Collegiate level, some institutions have a general agenda it's pushing... Whether religious, political, social, or what have you. Having said that, it's well established that Academia is well stocked with Liberal/Progressive leaning people.

We all know you're a teacher; and, I'm doing my best not to insult teachers in general. As a child and young man in HS, there were teachers that taught subjects from the text books, but added a bit of subtle social commentary. Some of them were Liberals. Some of them Conservative. The first time I heard this country being referred to as having socialist leanings, I was in 7th grade. I'm pretty sure he was a conservative. He didn't seem pleased with the idea. That was 1979-80.


I don't want to speculate on the reason for this thread. However, I would like to point out that formal education does not necessarily equal intelligence. The term educated idiot has been around a long time. Not saying that the OP, or Raoul, is in that category. Being smart doesn't always equal correct. Being an honors student, and scoring in the top 1 percentile on EVERY standardized test I've EVER taken, in EVERY category, and having an IQ of 136, has not saved me from saying some very stupid ***** on plenty of occasions. It hasn't kept me from making some mistakes with my grammar and spelling either. I should probably proof read this; but, hell, that's your job. :devil:

Bingo! Congratulations!You are an educator and I thank you. I have dealt with many people in business. Some, actually most are well educated people with degrees. However, some are much better at looking at problem solving from various angles than others, especially us without the higher education. I have a bit of an advantage as I have been around a long time and have experience, but I really respect some of the young people I deal with. It is not so much what they have learned from memorization, or out of a book, but the process of how to think. Education is the answer to many of the problems that exist today. Without it we are kind of like a BB rolling around in a coffee can. With education, people can and need to think outside the box.

I'd go along with that. :thumbsup:

I totally agree. Not everyone is geared to go to college. I wish more guidance counselors were adept at suggesting the building trades or tech. schools to some. There are many trades that a person can make a very good living and get paid for going through an apprenticeship program. Skilled labor is very much in need.

First time I read the title I knew this thread would turn out badly.

I just knew the uneducated would challenge the educated to a fight and I would end up beating the hell out of somebody with my diploma.

(now you know I'm a fraud, if I was really educated I'd just say 'if you hit me, I'll sue') :lol:

I can 2nd this! I've known a lot of educated people and being "educated" does not always equate to being "smart". My hats off to the "educated, smart" people but "me thinks" there are a lot more who think they are in that category than actually are.

Can't argue with this. I've done ok without a 4 year degree if money is a measure of success, but with one I think I would have been dangerous! I could have put my competion out of business. Well..... maybe not, but I might have figured out a way to make a living without working 10-12 hour days for the last 20+ years.

We should be grateful the thread title is what it is.

Had it been 'Educated, Rich & Attractive or Uneducated, Poor & Ugly'
the last remnants of honesty would have dissipated into the vast spectrum of nothingness which is not at all what Al Gore had in mind when he invented this place.

Your goats may be smarter, but my sheep are prettier.
Peckerhead:D

I learned a long time ago that a piece of paper doesn't mean you can do the job at hand competently, but sadly, it's hard to get in a lot of places without that paper.

Well, my daughter just scored a 31, so 30 isn't the highest.

36 is the highest I think.

A 31 is the 98th percentile, and whats cool is my daughter just turned 15, so I'm thinking she'll probably get to choose her college when she's ready.

Very true.

College these days is not even that educational. In subjects outside of mathematics and medical, the stuff that's taught is subjective and is the consensus of those in the higher positions rather than based on actual facts. Our colleges are mostly run by opinionated liberals who teach their agendas rather than offering both sides to any given subject matter and allowing the students to make an actual EDUCATED opinion on the topic. (Psychology, environmental sciences, microbiological sciences, geological sciences, etc...)

To question the upper hierarchy that pollute the students mind with all of their gobbly gook nonsensical opinions gets you lynched in the media and black balled on the Dean's list. Add to that we have allowed these idiots to dumb down the curriculum so that the students don't feel inferior. Aye chihuahua.

No wonder that foreign educational (Japan, China, Switzerland, etc...) systems are kicking the crap out of us. They actually teach their students by educating them without lowering the bar to make them feel better about themselves.

I have a college dip. commerce, it is so old and unused, it is now worthless. What I learned was that I am not a desk kind of guy. What it has done for me over the years is priceless. I get a current accountant to finish of my books and file my taxs. I have worked most my adult life under contracts with the benifets of tax deductions.

A degree is just a peice of paper if the individual does not have common sense or the aptitude to use it.


I have seen structural engineers that because of a good memory and math skills they get their stamp when they would be better suited to be a shop teacher, or a barristia.