College has been oversold

Re:College has been oversold by sp332 on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @12:40PM (#3187613)

I can't agree with this. Spending a couple hours at a time discussing Heidegger with an engaged teacher is not an experience you can get outside of a college. And it helped me ask questions I am not smart enough to have asked on my own.

The best argument for college is the social environment, which can't be replicated outside of it. Not education.

I don't think that's true in serious liberal arts colleges. They're all about changing the way you think.

Edit: of course the social aspect is important. But it's not the best argument.

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Re:College has been oversold by gavinlynch on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @05:12PM (#3188953)

Disagree.

Reading books where others smarter than ourselves ask these questions can also unfold new paradigms and impart the same intellectual growth.

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Re:College has been oversold by sp332 on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @05:24PM (#3189001)

I'm sure that having a conversation with about a dozen other students and a teacher was more effective than just reading the book would have been. Especially since the teacher was able to fill in some cultural and translation gaps in the book we were reading, and could make connections to other philosophies that we didn't even know about but Heidegger took for granted.

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Re:College has been oversold by gavinlynch on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @05:55PM (#3189109)

I could definitely see that. I guess my point is more that I don't think the experience you outlined is unique to college. And I'm sure there is a whole other conversation (I see it everywhere in these comments) about the value for the price.

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