No. 28: Underestimating stupid, higher ed whistleblower prof, and the upside of adventure programs
What's the danger of a stupid person? We have the receipts.
First, some numbers:
27/49% - Physicians spend 27% of their time with patients, and 49% on electronic health records and admin work.
1% - of tracks on Spotify account for 75-80% of total listener streams; the top 10% for 95-97%
⬇️3% & ⬆️11% - Total enrollment for universities declined 3% while enrollment for largest online universities increased 11%
Don’t underestimate stupid
Sure, a post about human stupidity is cynical. But what do you say when Scott Galloway brings the evidence?
First, a few ground rules as laid out by Professor Carlo Cipolla’s Basic Laws of Human Stupidity.
Everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals among us.
The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person while deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.
A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
There’s even a graphic:
In his post, Scott Galloway writes about examples of stupid from three groups - Big Stupid (VR headsets), Rich Stupid (Adam Neumann), and Self Stupid (a moment of self-reflection from Scott).
Read Don’t Underestimate Stupid on Medium
A professor blows the whistle on higher ed
As an outsider questioning the value of college, the perspective of people inside the game can be revealing. This post is written by a life-long professor that the Real World is fooled because his value lies only in academia.
What you learn in most classes is, in all honesty, useless in the vast majority of occupations. This is hardly surprising when you remember how little professors like me know about the Real World.
As a professor, it is in my interest for the public to continue to believe in the magic of education: To imagine that the ivory tower transforms student lead into worker gold.
My conscience, however, urges me to blow the whistle on the system anyway. Education is not magic. Professors can’t make students better at whatever job awaits them with learned lectures on arcane topics. I’m glad I have a dream job for life. I worked hard for it. But society would be better off if taxpayers saved their money, students spent fewer years in school, and sheltered academics like me finally entered the Real World and found a real job.
Read the full article at EconLib
Watch Professor Bryan Caplan’s interview about his book, The Case Against School.
The secret sauce of Unschool Adventures
Blake Boles describes his philosophy behind his adventure program, Unschool Adventures, and the magic that happens when you give teens space to create their own outcomes.
You’re 14 to 19 years old. You’re capable. Get your shit together. Go make something happen.
His approach
Bring a group of teens to a foreign land, ensure they are housed, fed, and emotionally supported—and then have them to figure out everything else for themselves.
The outcome
“Happiness is the feeling that power increases — that resistance is being overcome.” - [Friedrich Nietzsche]
“Power” in this regard doesn’t mean power over others—it means competency. It’s about the power to venture into a foreign land (even if just a few blocks) and not get lost (or, not for very long). It’s about forming and achieving a goal, recruiting others to your cause, and learning to lead (or follow) in a little, self-organized unit while navigating language barriers, public transport, and economic exchanges.
Read Happiness is the Feeling That Power Increases on Blake’s newsletter, Notes on Adventure
Till next time…
To walk a thorny road, we may cover its every inch with leather or we can make sandals. - Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning