Opinion Mike Rowe - 4 Year College Degrees Are Now Shameful

[DEVILsSON]

 

[Stump]

A 2022 study found that roughly 74% of college students get their news from social media

The Results
Students struggled. They employed inefficient strategies that made them vulnerable to forces, whether satirical or malevolent, that threaten informed citizenship.
• Over two-thirds never identified the “news story” as satirical.
• Ninety-five percent never located the PR firm behind the supposedly “nonpartisan” website.
Often students:
• Focused exclusively on the website or prompt, rarely consulting the broader web
• Trusted how a site presented itself on its About page
• Applied out-of-date and in some cases incorrect strategies (such as accepting or rejecting a site because of its top-level domain)
• Attributed undue weight to easily manipulated signals of credibility—such as an organization’s non-profit status, its links to authoritative sources, or “look”

What's this study? Is it comparative between age groups, or did it just focus on students? Because, I can tell you in my experience, it's not like older people are in any way more social media savy. Quite the opposite. The bullet points you've posted here are more indicative of the manipulative and sneaky ways social media is produced and presented and how consumers are unable or unwilling to scrutinize what they are reading. This is a phenomenon that is related to, but not the same as group-think. It's definitely a problem, but I don't know that it helps us answer any questions about which age cohort is more likely to engage in siloed thinking.

 

[Stump]

Are most degrees objectively useless? Yes.

However, I am part of the committee that does hiring decisions at my workplace. We absolutely use undergraduate grades as an important metric for candidate suitability.

And what are your thoughts on this? Do the undergrad grades present a useful metric for candidates? Are you ever surprised at the applicants' low suitability despite high grades, or vice versa?

 

[Michaelangelo]

But today, graduating high school just means you are not mentally challenged and can follow orders. Actually, you can still be mentally challenged and still graduate high school.

The only way to not obtain a high school diploma is to kill yourself…actually they’ll prob posthumously give one anyways

 

[FIMN]

A 2022 study found that roughly 74% of college students get their news from social media

The Results
Students struggled. They employed inefficient strategies that made them vulnerable to forces, whether satirical or malevolent, that threaten informed citizenship.
• Over two-thirds never identified the “news story” as satirical.
• Ninety-five percent never located the PR firm behind the supposedly “nonpartisan” website.
Often students:
• Focused exclusively on the website or prompt, rarely consulting the broader web
• Trusted how a site presented itself on its About page
• Applied out-of-date and in some cases incorrect strategies (such as accepting or rejecting a site because of its top-level domain)
• Attributed undue weight to easily manipulated signals of credibility—such as an organization’s non-profit status, its links to authoritative sources, or “look”

This doesn't seem to address whether sharing false or misleading information correlates with sharing false or misleading news with a level of education.

Also noted that you haven't actually provided any source, which isn't surprising.

 

[Beechwood]

It isn't college but thought we can use more teacher like this. The teacher in the video below tries to get his students to critically think.

Viral Video: Teacher Teaches Student to Think About ‘Transphobic’ Attacks on J.K. Rowling​

Viral Video: Teacher Teaches Student to Think About 'Transphobic' Attacks on J.K. Rowling | The Gateway Pundit | by Kristinn Taylor

Teacher and filmmaker Warren Smith posts videos of classroom discussions (among other subjects) on his Secret Scholar Society YouTube channel.

www.thegatewaypundit.com

Teacher and filmmaker Warren Smith posts videos of classroom discussions (among other subjects) on his Secret Scholar Society YouTube channel. A video Smith posted on January 26 has gone viral, with over 10 million views on X Twitter since Saturday. The YouTube views are just under 450,000 as of this writing.

Smith opens the video asking his students what they want to talk about. A boy (or young man) off camera asks if he still likes the works of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling “despite her bigoted opinions.” (Rowling has been attacked and smeared as “transphobic” for standing up for women’s rights even though she has expressed support for the trans community.)....

Through an exercise in critical thinking, Smith leads the student to an epiphany–not by forcing his own opinion of Rowling on the student, but by leading the student to examine his expressed view that Rowling is bigoted.


Lightly edited for formatting excerpt from the YouTube transcript:....

 

[Ruprecht]

This doesn't seem to address whether sharing false or misleading information correlates with sharing false or misleading news with a level of education.

Also noted that you haven't actually provided any source, which isn't surprising.

There's been quite a few studies on who retweets the most false news on social media, and what percentage do so without even reading the article they are resharing. Likewise on who exists almost exclusively within a social media bubble of similarly minded individuals.
I haven't seen any that highlighted students as the main offenders though...

 

[EndlessCritic]

And what are your thoughts on this? Do the undergrad grades present a useful metric for candidates? Are you ever surprised at the applicants' low suitability despite high grades, or vice versa?

tough to say. someone with extremely low grades would rarely make it to the interview stage.

but bottom line, if I see someone with extremely good grades in math/physics/science, it's pretty much an automatic interview.

 

[nostradumbass]

What's this study? Is it comparative between age groups, or did it just focus on students? Because, I can tell you in my experience, it's not like older people are in any way more social media savy. Quite the opposite. The bullet points you've posted here are more indicative of the manipulative and sneaky ways social media is produced and presented and how consumers are unable or unwilling to scrutinize what they are reading. This is a phenomenon that is related to, but not the same as group-think. It's definitely a problem, but I don't know that it helps us answer any questions about which age cohort is more likely to engage in siloed thinking.

It was a Stanford media literacy test. No, it didn't compare age groups, why would it? They weren't claiming any age group was immune, the other poster was the one claiming college students were "interrogating sources and applying critical thinking", and I said they share plenty of fake stories if it's something they want to be true.

 

[Stump]

It was a Stanford media literacy test. No, it didn't compare age groups, why would it? They weren't claiming any age group was immune, the other poster was the one claiming college students were "interrogating sources and applying critical thinking", and I said they share plenty of fake stories if it's something they want to be true.

The conversation was about age groups differentially doing that. Do you really think this is some sort of relevatory flash, that the concept of media literacy exists?

And why would you post snipped quotes without context or reference to the study, in a post asking you for sources?

Strange.

 

[nostradumbass]

The conversation was about age groups differentially doing that. Do you really think this is some sort of relevatory flash, that the concept of media literacy exists?

And why would you post snipped quotes without context or reference to the study, in a post asking you for sources?

Strange.

Huh? No, that wasn't the conversation. Did you not read the OP or the comment I responded to?

The thread is about degrees having lower standards and quality at rapidly increasing cost, and are now more of a purchase than an achievement. Mike Rowe went to college, I went to college, and his point was specifically about other people who also went to college who no longer find their degrees a source of pride. It had nothing to do with age groups other than the fact that degrees were once more valuable than they are now.

 

[Fedor>Cain]

Agree or disagree? Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame says that 4 year college degrees are now a source of shame. Some aren't even proudly displaying their degrees since they are considered just paid education and they aren't being valued as they once were:



Personally, I've always felt that experience is more important than a degree. I'd take the kid with a GED but is passionate about technology over the person that went 4 years to college and was told how to use technology. Every single person I've ran into with a degree only knows what they've been taught but the stoner that is on his PC every waking hour knows everything and is almost overqualified.

Lol, this is ridiculous. You assume that having a GED instead of a 4 year degree makes you less passionate about your chosen field?

Having a degree somehow makes you worse at your job?

What the fuck did I just read?

Obviously, there are cases like that, that are going to be true, but if you extrapolated that over a large set of data, it would conclude that your statement is functionally retarded.

 

[Fedor>Cain]

It depends on the degree. Many are shameful.

I got a BS in Electromechanical Engineering with minors in Physics and applied Mathematics. I found it quite challenging, and I am proud of my degree.

The state auditor for my state fired the CPA who had been the director of the auditor of public accounts office for 2+ decades and replaced him with a mid 30s communications major.

Shocking, but she's a Republican. Not the brightest bunch

 

[Stump]

Huh? No, that wasn't the conversation. Did you not read the OP or the comment I responded to?

The thread is about degrees having lower standards and quality at rapidly increasing cost, and are now more of a purchase than an achievement. Mike Rowe went to college, I went to college, and his point was specifically about other people who also went to college who no longer find their degrees a source of pride. It had nothing to do with age groups other than the fact that degrees were once more valuable than they are now.

Nah, the guy you were responding to said this:

Any data to back up this opinion? I remember analysis from the UK referendum that showed a heavy skew towards older and less educated folks as sharing the most news articles that were outright false. Suspect you would see the same elsewhere.

 

[nostradumbass]

Nah, the guy you were responding to said this:

The guy who shared no source?

 

[method115]

I think think this is an exaggeration. Experience is certainly valued more than it once was which should have always been the case but Degrees still matter.

 

[FIMN]

It was a Stanford media literacy test. No, it didn't compare age groups, why would it? They weren't claiming any age group was immune, the other poster was the one claiming college students were "interrogating sources and applying critical thinking", and I said they share plenty of fake stories if it's something they want to be true.

The question was who is more likely to share such news. Your source doesn't address that, for obvious reasons.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

Lol, this is ridiculous. You assume that having a GED instead of a 4 year degree makes you less passionate about your chosen field?

Having a degree somehow makes you worse at your job?

What the fuck did I just read?

Obviously, there are cases like that, that are going to be true, but if you extrapolated that over a large set of data, it would conclude that your statement is functionally retarded.

No. I’m just saying from my personal experience, all of the people I have encountered with degrees in my field aren’t very knowledgeable. They know what they are taught vs. the kid without the degree who is on his computer all day.

That’s not to say people with degrees can’t be passionate. I just haven’t encountered many if any that made me think they were better because of their degree.

 

[Stump]

The guy who shared no source?

... what? Did I catch ylu guys in ghe middle of an ongoing fight or something? What is going on here?

 

[CrimsomSky]

In my parents time you could get a job at the bottom of the company and rise up over the years by experience, talent and classes without a degree. Now the system is rigged the way to protect degree holders by barring people without degrees but experience to get the better paid jobs.