I Think Too Much

I'm procrastinating right now. I'm supposed to be writing a complaint for a class, but it's annoying me. So I'm thinking about education today, and how it isn't working.

The typical university structure isn't working. It's not. It hasn't been for a few decades now. Back when higher education was for scholars, the structure made sense. It was organized in classic areas where groups of professors could impart their knowledge in those general areas. Now, higher educations isn't for the sake of knowlege anymore, but it's skill sets and for getting a job. The real world versus the university world is a big battle. The world isn't organized in these grand, ancient fields of study like history, philosophy, art, etc. Mostly the humanities and some social sciences. The sciences are arranged more efficiently, where biology, chemistry, physics and the earth sciences are separate, but have similar structures and relate to each other. Even mathematics complements these well. But you can't have science without art, nor art without science.

Now there is a great shift into certain areas that prepare you for a certain career: engineering, nursing, psychology, and the catch-all business. The business degree in my opinion is one of the stupidest and best degrees at the same time. I've seen what business classes teach and it's dumb. But it's also easier to get a job than with an English degree, even though both could be equally intelligent and when it comes down to it not know much more than the other. But business is aimed at a career, and English is scholarly.

But it's not light business aligns well with any particular field. Business is in almost everything. So it's almost like a general studies degree. I know it's not, but it's very broad.

How do you know what degree to pick? What you like? What you think will get you a job? The prognostications are silly and daunting. You can't possibly try to divine what you're going to be doing in 5, 10, 30 years.

I think we need to teach people how to think more, not specific knowlege. There is so much more than just hard facts or certain procedures. People need to know how to write and communicate effectively. They also need to understand logic. Or how to relate to other people. Or how to solve a problem. I would like to create a new university structure. I think there should be "Pods". Instead of having two majors, have five minors. That way you could have Business, Advanced Business, English, Political Science and Philosophy. Or any combination of different degrees. The possibilities are endless. Then when you graduate you can say I've minored in these five areas and the employer will know more about you. But then you can have a wide range of knowlege and skills. It would be more about teaching the person and not learning a set number of skills and information.

Let's face it. There is no way a university can prepare for a specific job. It's impossible in almost any area. Your employer will have to train you in the specific job. But your employer isn't going to tell you how to write, how to be nice to co-workers, how to solve problems, how to troubleshoot. It's important for people to be able to think. Then they can do anything.