Is there even a need to go university in order to educate oneself these days?

Is there even a need to go university in order to educate oneself these days?

Attached: 220px-Christopher_Poole_at_XOXO_Festival_September_2012.jpg (220x284, 10K)

The answer is no.

Educate? No.
Get credentials? Yes and no.

Basically it depends on what kind of education you want.

having the piece of paper you get at the end helps in life

other than that, not really, especially if you're dedicated enough to commit to building expertise in a field. some people benefit from the ordered structure of higher education when it comes to learning.

really the main benefit is you get credentials which are important if you want to be taken seriously as a scholar or a candidate for career advancement. i'm sure everyone reading this knows that you do NOT need to be smart to get a college degree or even a PhD, you just need to be willing to submit yourself to lots of busywork.

Who is that guy and why have people been posting his face recently?

>Educate? No.
>Get credentials? Yes and no.
this is what i came to post

Say I would like to study the ancient near east and philosophy.

Also if you can get scholarships or other financial support through college it's a lot easier to learn when you don't also have to work for a living. That's actually why I'm in college as my family is willing to pay most of my living expenses if I'm pursuing a degree. To me, that beats grinding in a retail job while trying to get professional certifications or reading a bunch of manuals and guides and shit in my free time. It's way easier to focus and retain information if it's the only thing you really have to worry about.

Why do you want to study it? Just to learn and understand it? If that's the case don't bother with college because that'd be a waste of time and money. If you want to put that to some professional use or become a teacher of it yourself then it would probably serve you well to get a formal education.

Going to university
dosen't cost anything here that's why I'm debating wether or not to go, but I would be studying it purely for understanding.
That's why I'm considering it, but like I said I'm only doing it for understanding and don't care wether or not I'm able to find work that is related to it.

For most? Yes. Very few possess the necessary temperament (and the prerequisite education to sift through lateral bullshit literature - in the general sense, whether its stem, or humanities) to get an education that is equivalent or of higher quality through autodidacticism. This obviously varies depending on subject, but I'm obviously ruling out Mickey Mouse courses. This is not to say that it isn't achievable. Even if you do achieve this, you'll have a harder time proving your ability/getting people to listen to you in the first place. Whatever you think of the current state of formal education, depending on your results, it at least records the ability to dedicate yourself to something and specialise for a few years.

Sorry if I'm coming across as brusque or curt by the way, I'm very tired and have had a long day. Studying the classics is great, and you can learn a lot on your own and even become a bonafide expert entirely self-taught. However, one great advantage in learning formally is the interactive nature of it. You can ask the professor or your classmates questions, you will be guided through writing papers and you will be given feedback and you'll develop a greater ability to research and think incisively about things by working to meet academic standards.

You do not need help to acquire a bevy of knowledge on any subject. However, it is very hard to develop strong study habits and research and writing capabilities, or many other skills purely by studying in isolation.

Colleges usually provide guidance and an environment made for learning effectively, and make it easier to immerse yourself in the process.

If you'll be supported financially during college then I would suggest doing it. Especially if you are young and your time isn't very valuable monetarily yet. Consider what you would be sacrificing in order to attend. Would it be worth missed wages to you? Would it be worth the time spent? Consider also however the wider opportunities it would provide. Professors at my school have arranged publishing deals for students at my college, and often there are opportunities to study abroad or speak to famous experts that you wouldn't come by normally.

this is basically where i'm at. got a bigass scholarship, big enough where my family can cover my living expenses without really breaking a sweat so long as i work a reasonable amount of hours on the side. If we had to take out big loans to get me through this I'd honestly just not want to bother with it -- rather take a nontraditional student route while building a career in the field i'm already part-timing in now.

i genuinely don't get much enjoyment out of my college courses though, i prefer to learn by kinda meandering about whatever interests me in the moment and building a broad base of knowledge split between science, history, anthropology, and political economy. i don't really like the pressure of writing papers and doing exams. i mostly just want my degree so i have broader employment horizons and the option of going into a higher program -- if I ever get tired of the blue-collar job I'm already certified to do.

I have quite a handful of mental illnesses which would make it very hard for me to deal with others for prolonged periods of time, which is a major reason for my hesitation.

If it would be easily affordable I would just go for it. Learning in a leisurely fashion as one does while also working for a living is fun and enjoyable, but consider also the deeper enrichment you might be able to receive through doing so after a formal education in your youth.

It is nice to achieve a surface or shallow understanding of many different fields and disciplines, but in a practical sense it won't do you much good. After all, a foundation of knowledge is like a foundation of a building. It is not much use, and not very impressive if you do not build something structured upon it.

the creator of this site, he was only 15 when he did it

I don't know where you live, but it sounds like it may be what somewhat progressive area. If you have diagnosed mental illness I would not be surprised to learn that your college has accommodations available for something like that. I don't have experience with such accommodations but I have known some people who have severe anxiety or non-verbal autism that have been given such things as extra time on exams or the option to do group assignments solo.

Sounds interesting, I will look into it.

*shrug* my experience has been that knowing a little about a lot is a good place to start any foray into a real endeavor, and then you can build up experiential knowledge and do specific research as need be. I learn mostly for fun, then I learn practical matters when I'm confronted with a problem I can't solve without technical knowledge or an account from someone who's been there before.

Source on that cutie pie?

It's moot

University needs to be easy

Depends on the university. You obviously can't compare most universities with good ones like Oxford or Cambridge.
All the books in the world won't give you the same experience and skills as intense one to one seminars with the most respected intellectuals in the world

I'm thinking of taking the autodidactpill. I'm already 22. Dropped out twice but am currently enrolled in a mediocre state school. I learned more on my own ever than in school (high school or college). I am bored at college and am not interested in getting a degree to make money from it. I want to study philosophy and feel like I can go through enough on my own and with help from the internet that a degree isn't for me. I just enough of a foundation that I'm not completely ungrounded when I write my own stuff. I also want to study languages that my school doesn't offer (namely Sanskrit and Icelandic). Honestly, I would prefer if I could just take language classes there because those are about the only classes I learn more than by myself. Such is life as a midwit.

Reminder that while many people claim to be autodidacts, you have never actually met one in real life who impressed you with his knowledge

you'll probably thank yourself down the line for kicking yourself through some kind of bachelors. it'll always be easier to get some kind of job or apply for most kinds of programs, loans, assistance of any sort. it sucks but it's current year

Academics don't impress me either.

Dubs of truth. Get the bachelors. Get into the hiring position and don't hire people with degree.

It was already posted you fucking Reddit homo, no need to shit up the thread for karma.