University Vs. YouTube.
Times have changed. We are as close to "future" as it gets. Technology is at it's peak and only getting better. The world is more binary today and "digital age" is where we live in. With almost everything connected through the web do we need to rely on universities anymore? Do we need to attend physical and expensive classes anymore? Or is youtube more than enough to get us where we need to be? Are we ready to transition to "futurama", yet?
Universities can be long, and not to mention, expensive. Very expensive! Although, that is very subjective. In many countries in the world higher education is free or dirt cheap. From many of those countries we see the greatest academic brains emerging. But is it needed anymore? I can hop onto a youtube video with a mere click and learn all I need to build a self-solving rubik's cube with my only expense being the electricity and internet bill. That, is only the surface level that can eventually lead me to building a self-sustaining AI bee that can solve the bee crisis of the world.
Lets think about it. The greatest genius minds of today, and historically too, have either never attended universities or dropped out of them. The greatest minds that have shaped modern physics, technology, even automobiles are those who do not have a university degree to back them up.
If history indeed is the best teacher then we should take notes from it and say screw universities, I got this. You with me, youtube?" But, we don't. Not many do. Universities can sometimes be expensive, boring, not as innovative and at times outdated. Sometimes. Like I mentioned above there are cheaper options, and likewise there are universities who have come to ride along the wave of modern technology by implementing free e-books, VR technology for teaching purposes and stay-at-home programs where much is done online.
I have spent the better half of a decade in a medical university learning how to serve to the well-being of a person. I have spent year and years going to classes and roaming the dire corridors of the hospitals with one thing in mind - Health. If you are suffering from a cardiac arrest and need an immediate stunt in your artery to once again let blood flow to your heart and save your life and I throw you a person who has watched over a 100 youtube videos on how to perform a stunt surgery, would you sign off your permissions to him? Or would you rather sign it off to the white beard, wrinkly head, thick glasses old lemon who has spent his years turning pages, attending classes, walking dire corridors and a qualification of independent 100 cardiac surgeries.....and a medical degree?
I brought this point up because we often attend seminars where we are taught how to deal with "know it all patients". Patients that have browsed webmd for 10 minutes and think they know what is going on. Patients that watch an influencer on youtube and talk to us about a magical medical product that the youtuber was sponsored by and how that magical pill can solve everything. We are taught how to deal with internet-natural-medicine. Natural medicine that is infected by the advertisers and greedy people that care little about human life and care more for the money. So much so that they have infiltrated something as pure as natural medicine and ruined it.
Not everything on the internet is true. We have to keep that in mind when we think of the fields where internet or youtube can do more harm than benefit.
That might be too extreme of a situation. Lets just say you were commissioning a house down in South Carolina, an earthquake prone zone. Would you hire an online self-taught architect or would you choose the architect with a degree on him? Say both have them 0 experience in the respective field. Who would you commission to build your house from scratch?
The point I am trying to make is that there are still places where self-teaching and youtube aren't reliable. There are places where youtube is a good substitute. Trotting back to history we can see the great minds I mentioned above were all self-taught and very persistent. They were in a field that they have put immeasurable amount of time and effort including quarantining themselves till they perfected their craft. That is a key point to remember. What guarantee does anyone give that they have put in enough time and effort in their craft that you could trust their abilities?
Yes, there are a lot of places that youtube or something similar can be a substitute for universities. There is a very good chance that you could never attend university and still be the best in your lane. But that does not invalidate the role universities play in other lanes. Degrees do shape a lot of our decisions, from job security to trust. We may just have entered the realm where universities may no longer be needed, but we still aren't in the realm where universities can be completely become irrelevant.
We are a little away from "future". It still will take some more advancement in technology till we are completely free of the need of universities. We may be ready to compensate, in some areas, universities for youtube. But are we ready for the life where universities aren't needed anymore? I think not.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Join the ecotrain question and share your ideas with the world.
Shoutouts
Thanks @bdcommunity and @drisers for their unrivaled support. Show them love!
Thanks to @welcomewagon, @heyhaveyamet and #steemterminal for taking the time to help newbies. Stop by and say hello!
Who is awesome? @cranium is awesome
Affiliate links
Join @steemmonsters with my affiliate link
Sign up and download actifit and earn while getting fit, today!
Like gangs, drugs and wars? Play drugwars and earn now! Download here
Earn Partiko points and redeem them for massive upvotes. Join now
Delegate your SP to earn upvotes more efficiently and much more. Click to learn more
Fantastic post my friend, a great read.. so many questions too ;-)
I think i would say to answer one of them, about if would rather have someone from university operate on me Vs a youtuber.. well i think it all comes down to experience really.. IF a youtuber had self taught the theory and had no experience, i would not be any more uncomfortable than having a university graduate with no experience operate on me.. Bottom line is no University graduate goes into the Operating theatre without watching a surgeon and learning as they go.. actually its probably not even right to generalise because at the end of the day it always comes down to the person. There are amazing and terrible university doctors, that is just how it goes..
What is for sure true for me is that at the very least youtube makes an incredible supplement because of the quality of teachers now on the platform is so good. I always like to take my knowledge from many sources, and discover the similarities and differences.. The shame about institutional education is that they only really teach one viewpoint and often with one or two teachers.. which means if you dont have a really good teacher its hard to learn..
i can still remember my first lecture at UNiversity, i did a Biology degree.. The lecturers said first thing, Lecture are optional, you can come and listen, but at the end of the day you will teach yourself. Back then that was a challenge with just one library with limited books, and basically no Internet or youtube. These days i think I would probably use it a LOT to actually understand some of the things being taught..
thanks for taking part this week! <3
Very true. Experience is a key limiting factor. I had that in my mind while writing the scenarios of the doctors and architect. Only experience can draw a decisive line.
I like to believe that times have indeed changed. Since, back in my med school we followed a strict regimen of studying by yourself and coming to class or clinical rotations only to test ourselves with the professors and to learn through practice. We always had to prove our sources of information to our professors who then could either lead us on or correct us if needed. Even then I followed a lot of doctors on YouTube and took notes from them. I also did come across some who were just talking rubbish.
I think my point still is that yes YouTube or something similar is a superb supplement. But I don't think the world today is ready to get rid of universities and the role that they play.
Thank you for stopping by. I am really enjoying these questions!
Posted using Partiko Android
"Not everything on the internet is true". Word. Not everything taught in a university is true either, but it is a point well made. Thanks for contributing to a great discussion - if I need open heart surgery, I'm choosing you over the 100 hour youtube genius. :)
Leading the curation trail for both @ecotrain & @eco-alex.
Together We’re Making This World A Better Place.
Click Here To Join the manually curated trail "@artemislives" to support quality eco-green content.
@ecoTrain
Couldn't agree more. Not all informations are accurate. Thank you for stopping by!
Posted using Partiko Android
Hi @blind-spot, your post has been upvoted by @bdcommunity courtesy of @priyanarc!
Support us by setting us as your witness proxy or delegating STEEM POWER.
JOIN US ON
Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
and gifted with some virtually delicious cake
from the @helpiecake curation team!
Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @priyanarc.
Noble specialty. Kolega just do not choose psychiatry. Not long yet, some 2-3 years?
Yes not very long. But a tricky place choice
Good writeup. I really enjoyed reading it.
I also believe and expressed the same, online education can be a great substitute but surely not the first option. And yeah, it's also an enriched place to find out 'how to' things.
So many points you make and I agree
Would you believe it if I told you that we had someone here who practiced dentistry, all learnt from YT.
She had a stream of patients too because she charged a fraction of the "professionals".
Until she got caught...
And I just had this conversation with a friend probably about the same time you were writing this
She was shocked that people would go to this woman
But I wondered before Education became a business, did we not learn these very skills from those before us and from listening, watching then practicing...
Oh so many questions...
Very good read
Very true. We have similar practices at large in the subcontinent. The medical field isn't a business. There are tons of places you can study in the field for free or very tiny amount. It's just the private institutions that use it as a business.
But there is a reason the field is so highly and strictly regulated. In the past nobody had the education but how many loves were lost learning the right way of doing the procedure? I don't think a university degree is too much to pay to save a human life.
Today, without a degree or residency anyone can become a doctor or a dentist by following the steps and observing a licensed practitioner. But what happens when they come across a case that is too complicated for an observer? that is when the degree and residency kicks in.
I believe this is the reason this specific field is so highly regulated.
Posted using Partiko Android
True that
In my country, the local Education system has gone through so many changes and still there are discussions on which language best to use in our national schools
My kids have been the guinea pigs of the different syllabus introduced every 3 to 4 years
..... this is a long story
The other long story is Mum’s procedure that was recommended and only one hospital in the country that could perform it which is the cyber knife treatment that comes with a hefty bill.... which we then found out later was not necessary .... and that it could have caused her Non-Hodgkins ......and I got a chance to talk to many different doctors because of the complications prior and during..... ok ok I did say it is a long one but let’s not 😉
So I guess I am at a place of No Guarantee
Right now it is an employers’ market and the grads are coming out and many are either doing something they didn’t major in because they can’t get a job, right down to becoming grab car drivers - AM I STILL AT IT?!!
I have had so many discussions on this topic because my kids are moving into the Uni phase soon, and I want them to be prepared with the best tools for them
Shutting Up NOW!! 😁
@blind-spot with the advent of the internet I dont think they are as needed as they used to be. But for a solid foundation sometimes its needed.. at the moment. Heard on #pypt
Posted using Partiko Android
!SHADE 1
Thanks for engaging with posts presented on PYPT
Hi solominer the SHADE tokens are on the way.
Thanks for sharing SHADE
To view or Trade SHADE visit steem-engine.com
There's something to be said for shaking up the University model, but
also
The most effective companies right now, are the ones that find employees who are working as part of effective teams. the top University programs are ones that create teams in interdisciplinary fields and complete amazing projects.
THIS is learning to be exceptional in the real world. I think the University still has a place in the real world. I also think, too many simply go to university when other more appropriate programs are better suited for them.
Thanks for presenting this on @pypt #pypt
!SHADE 1
Thanks for engaging with posts presented on PYPT
Hi bluefinstudios the SHADE tokens are on the way.
Thanks for sharing SHADE
To view or Trade SHADE visit steem-engine.com
I have mixed feelings on this. yes, we are ready for internet schools with well written courses vetted by experienced individuals, for those people who cannot attend university due to physical or financial restrictions. I feel that this is a way to include people in isolated areas, or who may be handicapped or socially (but not mentally) challenged. Doing this would also decrease the expense a huge amount and make higher education affordable to all.
I also feel that internet schooling is vital at a high school level. Example: I have three intelligent but socially challenged nephews with autism spectrum disorder. One was kicked out of school, another refused to return and went through the juvenile offenders prison for truancy, the third has a sleeping disorder. Home schooling was the only solution for two of them. Yet the quality of the courses is pitiful. We must do better for our kids.
Third point. Our educational system sucks, in my opinion. We dont stress the practical training that would benefit and prepare kids for the "real world". Things like critical thinking, monetary systems, home/tech maintenance, nutrition and health care, ecological awareness. Things we still expect parents to pass on through osmosis when they arent working, cleaning, cooking or sleeping. This expectation belongs to a past generation. We cannot afford to hang on to the notion that kids will just "pick it up". Bad habits are easier to correct at an earlier age. While government mandated "school" might work for some, it's a nightmare for others who are wary of the misinformation, or simply not suited for a social learning situation.
Next point is how to deal with the cultural "brainwash" of outdated ideas and material. Textbooks are expensive, and there are very few suppliers. I remember when I was a kid a parent complained because our "new" textbooks described native americans as bloody savages, or something along those lines. We need a way for not only children but parents to easily access material, so that there might be a check on what their child is being taught. The old ideals still instilled in schools such as mandatory pledge of allegiance, white mans history, and the lack of world view bothers me. Internet access is a way to give options to approved materials.
Curriculum could also be optional. Do we really need repetitions of math, english and history beyond assuring the child has obtained competance? I remember having to repeat a semester of math basics in college just to prove I knew it. Things like this are a waste of time in the age of computers, unless someone is planning on a degree that requires advanced math.
I agree that for some subject "hands on" University experience is essential. The exchange of ideas and experience may be vital for some people. Yet I remember college as two years of repetion - core courses. What a bloody waste of time! Let Universities and colleges be "specialty" institutions. Sanders and Warren go on about making Universities free. This is the way to do it. Public access education for whomever is willing to do the work.
You are correct, not everything on the internet is true. A lot of it is a load of bollocks. But the only way to know that is to use critical thinking and reading, something that is usually not taught in schools. But there is ample room for improvement and access of quality information. A friend of mine learned coding and web design on line for less than $100. Courses in his area would cost close to $10k. This is where we need to focus our efforts on improving education access.
Maybe those doctors with the problem patients could pick up some knowledge about traditional herbal remedies, preventitive healthcare and alternative treatments that actually work instead of copping "know it all" attitudes.
We have a lot in common, actually most who wrote about this prompt have the similar idea.
I do believe that critical thinking is key. Without that, having the best education is also a waste.
But, we can never say that homeschooling is not a good thing. On the contrary I encourage it because of the liberty it provides compared to going to school and sticking to a certain curriculum. Basic primary education is undeniablly valuable and everyone should get it. But when it comes to universities...not everyone needs it. But not all universities are same either, and using bad quality or huge expense is a reason o will never reason with. The world is filled with brilliant options.
I think ecotrain should next prompt a challenge relating to school and colleges next since this one was based on universities. I think that will be really exciting and we learn a lot about what people think
Posted using Partiko Android
agree. we have a lot of great ideas that we can agree on. I learned the hard way that higher education does not equal more opportunity because of the current state of pro-business laws and attitudes. this is a fallacy we need to correct, literally a trap that many fall into.
Thanks for making us think on PYPT! This is an awesome musing about the future, and a good example showing "how much we know" -versus- "how little we know." 🤔
!SHADE 1
Thanks for engaging with posts presented on PYPT
Hi thekittygirl the SHADE tokens are on the way.
Thanks for sharing SHADE
To view or Trade SHADE visit steem-engine.com
!SHADE 2
Thanks for sharing on Pimp Your Post Thursday
Hi blind-spot the SHADE tokens are on the way.
Thanks for sharing SHADE
To view or Trade SHADE visit steem-engine.com