Formal education is not necessary

Just talking about my own experience. In my past lives I advanced quite well academically and went to the university and completed my course requirements for the Master’s Degree in business and industrial engineering very fast and then studied in universities in Finland and America and compeleted some language studies in Leningrad, the USSR. Where did all this take me? Nowhere and then I fell and ended up living in the streets of America and so on. I learned much more in the streets that in these universities. So my argument is that the formal education is not really necessary at all. What do you think?

I think formal education is important, to enable you to better understand what you will encounter during your lifetime

but networking and populatiry will get you further in life

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I’m convinced that if we didn’t have these crazy delusions, there’s be no material available for the movie industry to make movies out of :slight_smile:

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Here are the general facts on the benefits of a college education (on average):

The much-discussed cost of college doesn’t change this fact. According to a paper by Mr. Autor published Thursday in the journal Science, the true cost of a college degree is about negative $500,000. That’s right: Over the long run, college is cheaper than free. Not going to college will cost you about half a million dollars.

Mr. Autor’s paper — building on work by the economists Christopher Avery and Sarah Turner — arrives at that figure first by calculating the very real cost of tuition and fees. This amount is then subtracted from the lifetime gap between the earnings of college graduates and high school graduates. After adjusting for inflation and the time value of money, the net cost of college is negative $500,000, roughly double what it was three decades ago.

Read the full story:

More information:

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For me college was not a complete waste. I do realize that many employers are looking out for workers who have masters degrees and Phd degrees - an Associates degree or BA degree will get you so far - not very far in my opinion, but it is still better to hold an Associates or Bachelors degree than no degree.
Without my education, I would have never been successful in my employment as a Special Ed Paraprofessional and Substitute Teacher - But I do agree with you that there is nothing more educational than real world experiences outside of text books and classrooms. Face it today anyone with money can buy an education - I knew of this one woman who was a professional student, she stayed in college for years but never had a job, she couldn’t boil an egg.
Nothing beats getting an education from experiences one learns from life. A classroom can go so far

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education breeds understanding.
lack of education breeds ignorance.
take care

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College was way too distressing for me and probably helped exacerbate my sz. I think I would have done much better at a small private school rather than a large public university because I felt very socially disconnected and insignificant on the big campus I went to. I managed to get two undergrad degrees but after that I got sick and never wanted to go back.

Cool revelation, not a delusion, obviously…

As for education, sure its important but not as important as society makes it out to be.
I graduated high school, took a number of vocational courses and 1 year of college.

I have read the material about the cost of not going to college and have heard the argument before. that’s but one way of looking at it. people need to see the other side.

I know at least 2 people with college degrees who could not find work in their field and would have been homeless. One did find work for awhile then was laid off during the cutbacks of the early 90s. Bankruptcy ensued, and in part due to student loans that needed paid back.

I got 2 vocational certificates in one field and never worked a job in that field. I had a certificate and a licence in another vocational field and worked 6 months in that field before being laid off. Although i was licensed to do supervisory work, the company used me as a laborer and paid me as a laborer even though I was placed in supervisors roles often…but making $3 an hour less than supervisors.

Had I completed my 4 years of college in that field I would have maybe been placed in a startling position of 35,000 - 40,000 a year. If I had been working full time i would have simply not had the time to build my own house, so would have had to either pay rent or get a mortgage like most of society expects.
I quit college in spring 2005. I purchased land in September 2005. I built my house. It was completed in 2009. I would have just been getting my degree in 2009 had I stayed in college.
I pay no rent. I have no mortgage.

Other than intellectual knowledge and a few cool experiences in my education, what financial benefit was it? rather, it would have been a detriment. The jobs I did to earn and save the money to do what i did did not even require a high school diploma! One was for employers, the other was self employment that could be learned on your own as long as you had maybe a 10th grade education…

Never confuse education with intelligence.
I you didn’t come by it naturally, or from “the school of hard knocks” (experience), well then, yes, you better hope daddy still has enough money to buy you some. Unless of course you found your own way, then Great!..but don’t be such a snob making sure everyone knows how great you think you are.

List of college-dropout billionaires

Bill Gates[4] – US
Mark Zuckerberg[5] – US
Lawrence Ellison[6] – US
Michael Dell[7] – US
Marc Rich[8] (d. 2013) – US
Ty Warner[9] – US
Gautam Adani[10] – India
Micky Jagtiani[11] – India
Shahid Balwa[12] – India
Subhash Chandra[13] – India
Vinod Goenka[14] – India
PNC Menon[15][16] – India
Roman Abramovich[17] – Russia
Sheldon Adelson[18] – US
Amancio Ortega[19] – Spain
Donald Newhouse[20] – US
François Pinault[21] – France
Jack Taylor[22] – US
David Geffen[23] – US
Ted Turner[24] – US
Henry Fok[25] (d. 2006) – Hong Kong
Ralph Lauren[26] – US
Mohammed Al Amoudi[27] – Saudi Arabia
Stanley Ho[28] – Hong Kong
Gabe Newell[29] – US
Dustin Moskovitz[30] – US
Richard Li[31] – Hong Kong
Sheldon Solow[32] – US
Stef Wertheimer[33][34] – Israel
Hiroshi Yamauchi[35] (d. 2013) - Japan
Evan Williams[36] - US
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Dear Mr. Mjseu,

I like your bike better then the big car. There is a lot to be said for what sort of person one is as well. I think success is a personal measure or a state of mind.

What is success really?

As far as formal education vs. trade school, vs stopping at high school, I think one needs a mix of education and life experience. If one lives their life in books and has no rich tapestry to their life, then that is a sad life in my opinion. But I think an education helps build that tapestry. You have both the education and the life experience. I think you are fighting this illness as well as you are because of your education. Learning new things keeps the mind moving. You have a very full life with an amazing amount of travel, experience and richness.

Thank you for letting me post.

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I think early education is necessary. The parents who focuses on early education of their child, do better in school and future.