If you had to list 5 worthless degrees . . .

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by NorCal, Aug 23, 2021.

Loading...
  1. smartdegree

    smartdegree Active Member

    My brother-in law's barber's friend wears an undershirt with holes in them and which his wife is asking him to replace. He says his undershirt helps him with the heat when he works and thus resulted in an incredible performance review and promotion that eventually landed him a new Porsche.

    Is that undershirt worthless?
     
  2. smartdegree

    smartdegree Active Member

    My neighbor's dog pooped on my front yard so often that I was forced to move to a new home. That new home then increased value by 400K over the past 6 months.

    Is my ex-neighbor's dog poop worthless?
     
    Bill Huffman likes this.
  3. tadj

    tadj Active Member

    That's your own preference. There's no need to be rude.
     
  4. tadj

    tadj Active Member

    A lot of people take "personal development" degrees on the way to reaching their professional goals (law school, etc.). Others want to take degrees for personal development only. I don't understand the mocking tone.
     
  5. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    @NorCal you kind of pulled the pin on this grenade and then abandoned ship, to mix metaphors. Any thoughts to share? Your post certainly generated lots of thoughts
     
    recruiting likes this.
  6. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    But when the money itself is worthless, then what?
     
  7. smartdegree

    smartdegree Active Member

    But if life itself is worthless, then what? lol
     
  8. smartdegree

    smartdegree Active Member

    "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
    1 Timothy 6:10
     
    chrisjm18 likes this.
  9. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I have a known disregard for organized religion. But of COURSE it's a worthwhile course of study. Look at the importance of religion in our society, in our lives, whether or not we're active participants in it. Imagine the impact on society one could have with that knowledge and the meaning-making that may come from it.

    What I'm pressing in this thread is that to equate the worth of a degree to its performance as a career training tool and measured by the salary one might earn as a result is an incredibly narrow perspective. (Not that you're arguing that; mine is a general point.)

    Plus, let's consider the sources of such carping. It's almost always by people unqualified to make such assessments. When I did my PhD at Union, there were several people--here and on other boards--who carped on it. The quality of the school, the quality of my work, even the authorship of my dissertation. It was all baseless and nonsense, of course. But one thing that stood out to me is that NONE of them had ever done a PhD. On the other hand, those that had done the doctorate either had nothing to say, or reacted with a collective "meh," which was highly appropriate.

    Oh, and the guy who passed around the download key for my dissertation--which was downloaded 67 times before I stopped it--did his degree at a nearly completely phony school in California. And so it goes....
     
    Rachel83az and tadj like this.
  10. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Skills like communications, degree or not, are essential in real estate. I would imagine her degree helped her, even if she "could" have gone into real estate without. There's some value to any degree in terms of communication, research, logic, critical thinking, etc. skills. I don't think someone should go into $200K+ debt for any degree, but degrees aren't worthless either. If we're talking what degrees best help someone land a job, a psych BS degree alone isn't it. But, that doesn't make the degree worthless if they gained useful employable skills during that degree (communication, research, logic, critical thinking, etc.). Some employers want a BS/BA degree of any sort to check a box.
     
  11. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I got a tongue-in-cheek topic for religious studies in Afghanistan. The Taliban warned the women of Afghanistan not to go out into public because the Taliban soldiers had not been trained to respect women. I bet a book could be written on that one.
     
  12. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Just last week, I was having a conversation with a person with a BS in Psychology that works as a biofeedback and neurofeedback specialist and mental health coach. She makes a decent living with her BS degree. I don't think any degree is useless, many jobs just requires a BS degree in any field. Education at the end teaches you to think, learn fast and achieve goals. These skills are required in any job.
     
  13. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    If you cannot be able to pay back student loans, you have a worthless degree.:D
     
    NorCal likes this.
  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Really? The money you make is the sole determinant of the value of your degree?
     
  15. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    Even better than a “degree” is being a usurer who can fund someone else’s degree?
     
  16. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    Yup, "Seeking Arrangement," AKA Sugar Daddy and Sugar Mama. :D
     
  17. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    In a gold rush, be the guy who sells shovels.
     
    NorCal and Bill Huffman like this.
  18. Acolyte

    Acolyte Active Member

    It seems like people see their degrees as limitations instead of assets. "Well, my degree only covered these three things, so I guess I can't do ANYTHING else - my degree sets the boundaries for what I can do with my professional life." It confuses me.
     
    sanantone and Rachel83az like this.
  19. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Because that's how children are taught to think about higher education, that is the qualification for the specific job they want instead of basic training in the broader transferable skills they will need. I don't fault people for believing what they've been taught.

    I don't think it used to be that way in the US. In the 50s and 60s someone would get a Bachelor's degree in a subject and then go off to be a manager, never again using the specific knowledge of political science or biology or anthropology. You still see this in the UK, where students studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) are understood to be ready for a wide range of careers that don't have specific preparation.
     
    Acolyte, sanantone and Rachel83az like this.
  20. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Americans now think universities are supposed to be vocational schools. It's still the case that someone can graduate with a humanities degree from an Ivy League school and end up in banking and finance. I work in taxation, and I don't have an accounting or law degree. I worked in mental health without having a degree in counseling, therapy, social work, or psychology. I worked in criminal justice without having a criminal justice or criminology degree.
     
    Acolyte and chrisjm18 like this.

Share This Page