[Humble Bragger]

Originally Posted by Einarr To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

PhD. = Piled Higher and Deeper. Having the staying power to endure 8 years of higher education only means you have a high tolerance for stupidity and endurance; as well as have learned to play the 'god ole boy's" game. It DOES NOT mean that you are smarter or have actually learned anything. I don't remember who said it or the exact quote but it goes something like this.....Sciences only advances one death at a time.

"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. "
— Max Planck

"Science progresses funeral by funeral."
— Max Planck

[obnoxious]

^^ At the time that was said the scientific community was relatively small, and not every scientist in the world would even hear about new ideas in order to consider them. The 'good ole boy' system was stronger back then as well. Now, with the influence of the internet and a much larger scientific community, Planck's quote doesn't apply so much today, though it was a valid observation of his era. Now it's more like 'keep up or get left behind'.

See when we're inevitably rendered obsolete by AI that can download the contents of our brain in nanoseconds, at least it won't hit me as hard as the guy who paid thousands of dollars for the contents of his. (It's funny this could hold as a valid argument)

[EtaProduct]

I completely agree with N0c7urn3. College is useful because it brings people together who want to study the same thing, and doing so is often much more effective than studying it yourself from a book. I can't speak for other subjects, but for mathematics, this is essential. I know of no great mathematician who truly works alone - any mathematician needs others to bounce ideas off of, catch their mistakes, or simply learn from.

Think of it this way: suppose you had the choice between reading a book, and taking a semester-long course from the professor who wrote the book! You can even talk to them after class, asking about the nuances of the subject that they left out of the book, things that only they know. You cannot possibly achieve the same level of depth of understanding by sitting in your room with a piece of paper in front of your nose.

Besides, if it weren't for universities, who would be writing all these books that fill the libraries that the OP wants to sit in his room and learn from? There needs to be a place for the true academics to sit down, think, discover, and write. I agree that the system isn't perfect, and a lot of garbage passes through the system, but it is certainly not obsolete.