I consider my degrees to be incredibly important. I wouldn't change what I learned in the process of getting them for anything. With respect to arguments, they have given me both the requisite knowledge to create sound arguments and the skills to formulate those arguments (both are part of the training in science). They also open doors in society, so they are far from useless.
Of course not all degrees are created equal, and hopefully someday in the not too distant future degrees will become much less important, even in science. They almost certainly do more harm than good.
In our society we are much more likely to listen to someone who has the degrees than someone who doesn't. And yet, the argument is all that matters. This covid thing has brought out so many doctors that are just shy of clueless on both biology and science speaking as "experts" (on both sides of the narrative) and so many people believe them without questioning. Which side listens to which wrong doctors depends only on which fears they start with. On both sides they are really just looking for justification for their fears.
On the one side people believe covid is the worst thing ever, masks work and vaccines are God's gift, on the other side people believe transmembrane proteins can "shed", mRNA can make people into GMO's, and a third of the world is going to die in December. All of those have zero evidence to support, and substantial evidence against, and yet many people believe them no matter what evidence you present.
And then the crazy happens. You present your argument, and then they ask for your credentials!!!
My degree is in engineering and I do agree I did learn some problem solving tools and approaches. But even so, it was nothing I couldn't have learned from 2 weeks on the job of a construction site and reading a couple books for free. And I make 4x my old engineer salary running an unrelated business I started with a friend who didnt go to college. So it's been a huge waste of life for me personally.
Obviously YMMV...
Also, couldnt agree more about degrees hopefully becoming less important. We target smart kids out of high school. 4 years of on job experience is infinitely more valuable than a piece of paper to us. So I'm trying to do my part in that.
I consider my degrees to be incredibly important. I wouldn't change what I learned in the process of getting them for anything. With respect to arguments, they have given me both the requisite knowledge to create sound arguments and the skills to formulate those arguments (both are part of the training in science). They also open doors in society, so they are far from useless.
Of course not all degrees are created equal, and hopefully someday in the not too distant future degrees will become much less important, even in science. They almost certainly do more harm than good.
In our society we are much more likely to listen to someone who has the degrees than someone who doesn't. And yet, the argument is all that matters. This covid thing has brought out so many doctors that are just shy of clueless on both biology and science speaking as "experts" (on both sides of the narrative) and so many people believe them without questioning. Which side listens to which wrong doctors depends only on which fears they start with. On both sides they are really just looking for justification for their fears.
On the one side people believe covid is the worst thing ever, masks work and vaccines are God's gift, on the other side people believe transmembrane proteins can "shed", mRNA can make people into GMO's, and a third of the world is going to die in December. All of those have zero evidence to support, and substantial evidence against, and yet many people believe them no matter what evidence you present.
And then the crazy happens. You present your argument, and then they ask for your credentials!!!
Both sides.
My degree is in engineering and I do agree I did learn some problem solving tools and approaches. But even so, it was nothing I couldn't have learned from 2 weeks on the job of a construction site and reading a couple books for free. And I make 4x my old engineer salary running an unrelated business I started with a friend who didnt go to college. So it's been a huge waste of life for me personally.
Obviously YMMV...
Also, couldnt agree more about degrees hopefully becoming less important. We target smart kids out of high school. 4 years of on job experience is infinitely more valuable than a piece of paper to us. So I'm trying to do my part in that.