Re:MIT Gets $140M Pledge from Anonymous Donor
by apersona on Thursday June 08, 2017 @12:32AM
(#14511924)
But...it's not the degree, it's the knowledge that's important.
MIT, Stanford, and a decent amount of other institutions have made their lectures available for free online. Almost anyone can go online now and watch the lectures and do the projects that the students do.
How would testing centers and degrees make them better scientists in anyway?
Re:MIT Gets $140M Pledge from Anonymous Donor
by mowenz on Thursday June 08, 2017 @02:40AM
(#14512362)
Because of limited resources. A degree signals knowledge of a subject, ability to commit and see-through to a goal, and of intelligence.
It also decreases uncertainty in the outcome of your time investment.
>How would testing centers and degrees make them better scientists in anyway?
I'm not aware it's even possible to get accepted into a phD program in the sciences without aN undergrad degree.
Maybe it's the unrealistic and the naive opimist in me that is saying this--but imagine any person in the world with an internet connection could have access to study for a world-class degree on whatever schedule suits them?
Obviously there are challenges involved, and there will always be a place for research institutions, but it seems to me like if anyone in the world could earn a degree equivalent in rigor to an MIT degree that a lot more would. That would help a lot of people and also propel advancements science and tech.
It seems most of us in tech learned a lot of our most valuable skills on our own--so in other words, labour-intensive education isn't the only way to do it.