Man and Nature - Alan Watts

I heard this audio clip at the end of a podcast I listen to. I thought it was really good and wanted to share with everyone.

Listen Here - Man and Nature - Alan Watts

The part where he talks about college really stood out to me. Lately, I've been thinking about 'the system' as it pertains to college. I feel that we've been deviating from what college really is about, which is learning. I know so many people who are cramming 15, 18, and even 21 hours of classes in to a single semester. You aren't learning at that point, you're cramming and will surely forget the bulk of what you have "learned" at the end of the semester. The academic advisers always suggest taking 12 hours a semester so that you will graduate college "on-time." Who said four years is on time? Taking 12 hours is not too much of a workload, and I don't mean that it's easy, but due to project deadlines, time constraints, weaknesses in one subject or another, I find that often times I cut study time in one subject to get up to speed in another subject. I've maintained a stellar GPA doing this, but I feel that I would honestly learn a lot more if I could just take 2 classes a semester and devote my time to learning those 2 very well, instead of jumping all around. Why the rush? The GPA is just a number. My GPA is higher than 95% of my peers, but I'm not smarter than them. I haven't necessarily learned more. I've just focused more on strategies to keep my scores high, which shouldn't be my focus. My focus should be to learn. But the pressures are all about your GPA. Just a thought...

Is this the same Alan as from Cutting Through the Matrix, great guy.

My experience of tertiary education is the same. I came to accept that its not meant to educate, its only meant to serve as assessment to verify a level of achievement which can be recognized externally amongst other institutions and employers. In fact the most fulfilling way to do tertiary study is to already know the material, and just go there to use the teaching staff to harden up your weak areas or explore additional content... and that way it also ensures higher grades.

In the real world for younger students then I think it does 'completely' become about learning how to cram for exams and then forgetting what isnt needed to make room for more cramming. Once in the workforce it seems most of what you learn is irrelevant for most courses of study.

Adder wrote: My experience of tertiary education is the same. I came to accept that its not meant to educate, its only meant to serve as assessment to verify a level of achievement which can be recognized externally amongst other institutions and employers. In fact the most fulfilling way to do tertiary study is to already know the material, and just go there to use the teaching staff to harden up your weak areas or explore additional content... and that way it also ensures higher grades.

In the real world for younger students then I think it does 'completely' become about learning how to cram for exams and then forgetting what isnt needed to make room for more cramming. Once in the workforce it seems most of what you learn is irrelevant for most courses of study.[]/b

Isn't that so annoying, how can that be avoided?

cia_kid wrote: Isn't that so annoying, how can that be avoided?

I'd guess it cannot be avoided and its probably best do whatever it takes to get into the career you want........ but afterwards then study in your own time to actually build up your knowledge on the things you want to be really master. Graduate study is a good option once established in a career (especially if you can get the employer to pay for it!) but again it works best if you already know the material before hand, IMO.