For the Hopeful to be Rich a thoughtful remark to Multiple Degree Holders...

It seems at first wonderful to attain a BA after 4 or 5 years in college. Make it a Summa Cum Lauda...it feels great! But no work and another frenzy to get more education. Another 2 years will attain another Masters. If that dosent work...another fit for parchment! What about some of us that have attained some 19 or more years in traditional colleges and schools attaining letters that we cannot even put on our resume because of sublime and an intimidating " fear" that we are "over educated", or perhaps ( an anomoly)...Certainly we shouldnt be. Multiple degrees are great...the more education one can possibly have...I say the better! But after so many years there is a realization. Its not the parchment that we are after, it is the education!
So what if after a time...one truely excels in their field after profiting from self education...what is accreditation then? What exactly is a certificate or diploma if it goes unread...simply past over by those in charge?
Yet we (some of us) are educated, to a greater or lesser degree, and often at the whim of the person who reads our resume or sees our transcript.
We can admit a great loss to ourselves and our society of the current culture of Orthopsy and suspicion, or simply turn a new page to know ourselves and what education really should mean.
The gain of thoughtful knowledge and those skills that produce a better thinker as well as a citizen.

 

Okay.

 

Yow!

 

These matters are discussed and analyzed eloquently by one of my favorite authors, Charles D. Hayes, who dropped out of high school at 17, spent four years with the Marines, years as a Dallas policeman, then 25 years in the Alaska oil fields. His very impressive books include

Training Yourself: the 21st century credential (a 3-inch-high, 84-page summary of much of his thinking),

Proving You're Qualified: strategies for competent people without college degrees.

See: www.autodidactic.com

PS: It would be Summa Cum Laude

 

RE:

PS: It would be Summa Cum Laude


LOLOLOL

 

At the risk of sounding stupid, what is a “culture of Orthopsy and suspicion”? I think I know what orthopsy means, and that it refers to a branch of psychiatry that deals primarily with maintaining or restoring mental health, especially following trauma, e.g. violence due to exposure to poverty, violence, mental and physical limitation, etc. Is that what you are trying to say, that we are a culture that deliberately or unwittingly imposes such stress on most of our citizens? That, in turn, many citizens feel suspicious of our cultural response to their stress? If true, that is not a rosy outlook at all. In my own words, are you trying to say that the goal of education ought to be that the educated should stop at some point and simply begin earnestly to put into actual practice the noble ideas that education has hopefully instilled, and try to influence others to do the same? I like that. On the other hand, it strikes me that many of history’s great thinkers were very poor practitioners. It was their thinking, often interpreted by others, that transformed society, not their going door to door putting their noble ideas into practice.

There is ample room in this world for thinkers and practitioners. Hopefully the thinkers, who challenge stasis, will be of such noble intent that practitioners, who move society off center, will be compelled to put many of the thinkers’ ideas into practice. Neither very good thinkers nor very good practitioners should sense any need to apologize for what they do, or feel antagonistic toward one another. They do what they do best and are probably compelled to do so.

 

I am happy to see this discussion board active! I unfortunately was displeased at my spellcheck...an "a" instead of an "e" In Laud.. ( a slight of hand )Orthopsy of course being a word not generally used...I received a diagnosis for the use of that word, I know this word is not in the general dictionary but love to use it "humorously". The main issue is of course education.
How many people are bad spellers anyway! It is only a click away with a computer now.

I think the main reason of my writing this discussion board was to incite a little controversy and perhaps just throw a little question...not to rock the boat!

I think many people would like to have a degree or go on to college. Surely it makes a difference in what one is paid (or should be)or the type of job one gets.
Unfortunately there is a great deal of animosity towards degrees out there too, perhaps a sense of anti-intellectualism that can only be sensed. I apologize for political incorrection in the use of this word.
If you have education..it may not be that you find a job or position in your chosen field. It could always be the old alabi of the economy. The purpose of all education should be self inspired interest if not capital gain (to be good at what you do). If one receives a specific degree (from a very old odd sounding school) in Moscow Russia it is often taken with a grain of salt here as to specific accreditation (or perhaps a matter of who you talk to), just as if you received it at an unknown school, perhaps one of those unmentionables...a mill or worse yet.
Many of these people have to complete some form of their education over again at sometimes great time and cost.
My point is that there are many many people who have advanced degrees from their home country, possibly even our own Americans who have studied abroad and returned. Some of them are mature and seek positions in their field...but are having their credentials not recognized because of the catch 22 (The foreign degree gambit)
The burden of proof is always knowledge or being able to prove ones skill set....and the enlightenment (or commodity of work) we attain out of such gain.
Of course the practical path of education is often the more reasonable to discuss. The foreign degree gambit often feel like walking on stones abalze.

 

What exactly do you want?

 

OK, so it seems that this has something to do with foreign degrees. "Let's not have bad thoughts about foreign degrees." That sort of thing? "Let's celebrate foreign degrees! Even the really, really bad ones!" That sort of thing? Before you post again, try the decaf!
Jack

 

to the tune of "Onward Christian Soldiers"

Lloyd George knew my father,
Father knew Lloyd George.
Lloyd George knew my father,
Father knew Lloyd George.
Lloyd George knew my fa-a-ther,
Father knew...

 

Anyone remember the Doctor's biography, The Story of O?