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138 sats \ 2 replies \ @stack_harder 10h \ on: What things did you have to unlearn? bitcoin_beginners
There are almost too many things to list, but one thing that really stood out was that people with degrees aren't always the amazing geniuses people think they are, this is especially true of doctors.
More often it's a case of some deep specialization with a lack of depth of thinking in many other aspects.
I've seen almost too many examples of this to count over the years, but the first time the penny dropped for me was when I was on an exchange trip in Russia in 05.
One girl from the UK group was studying Russian at Oxford and I felt like, she must be some next-level elite, after all, Oxford and all that. This is the top percentile of the country.
Meanwhile, I had been teaching myself for a few years with nothing but self-study books (and there weren't many), pen pals, and internet radio - real old school. I had some penpal from Ufa send me some newspapers and literal VHS tapes of some Russian movies.
I was 19 I think and I still remember feeling insecure in the presence of all these people that were at university, after all, I finished school and did a little bit of college (which isn't college in the US sense). I wasn't a credential person.
Anyway, turns out the Oxford wizard was absolutely terrible, and could hardly speak. it was all book theory. The rest of the uni students absolutely sucked, it was almost comical.
I couldn't believe it, I, a nobody, was the strongest speaker there. The dorm lady responsible for our floor would come and seek me out to translate all the chaos other foreigners got up to.
That was a big lesson and I was so glad that instead of going into debt to play the stupid university games, I taught myself, saved up, and then actually went and lived in the country.
For lovers of credentials, I did independently take exams too later on and got the highest level Russian as a foreign language certification there is, that was more of a personal goal though and it never made a difference in my life financially speaking.
The other underlying lesson was that, if you have passion and persistence and put the work in, you can self-educate to whatever level you want.
Education is something that can happen anytime, anywhere and people who think you need to have some piece of paper to prove your worth are nothing but fools (caviat - i understand there are professions like medicine, surgery, and flying planes, that require a formal structure and certificates)
Really nice to read! Thanks for sharing so much about yourself. As a school teacher, I actually agree with you. Our grades only show that we have mastered well the curriculum content, but it mayn’t indicate our ability to hold a decent conversation outside the confines of the syllabus. That’s why I always confidently tell my experienced parent friends that I am very confident I will be a chill parent and not get stressed over the pressure cooker that is our education system. It’s more important to inculcate the intrinsic motivation to learn in my kids, just like what you did for yourself
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no problem, i think it's sad when kids have so much pressure put on them, especially these days when the future of the workforce and income generation looks very different.
as long as we remember there is always a path and a way and help kids explore their interests, there will be hope :)
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