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Comment by treehau5 | Hacker News Reader

> That's it.

Actually, you scratched the surface, but it goes so much further than that -- that sadly most of our modern universities have lost sight of. I've posted this in previous comments, but universities are actually suppose to help build more just societies -- an idea Plato describes as the purpose of university, and echoed by many chancellors across the country.

"The goal of university education is to help build a fairer, more just society" - Steven Schwartz. [0]

"Plato regards education as a means to achieve justice, both individual justice and social justice." [1]

[0]: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/comment/columnists/the-...

[1]: http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI9517932/

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I think this is what everyone is missing. If we're treating college strictly as a financial ROI calculation (which, partly, it is) it's obviously getting dicier by the year. This is exacerbated by Colleges and Universities treating every major from Economics to Cultural Studies as if they held roughly equal career prospects (they obviously don't).

Yes, it is a luxury to have the time to take a step back and consider your own society from a wider lens than "how can I beter secure my financial future this week." But without experiences like College, gap years, travel, and other "frivolities," you'll most likely end up as yet another short-sighted member of upper class who's spent a majority of their lifetime's creative power accumulating and hoarding wealth. Many don't have the bandwidth for both personal security and a strong social conscience, and I don't blame them for it...but I sure wish there were more with that ability.

Money is a very powerful tool and 18 is usually not old enough to be done with the formative experiences that will determine what you do with that power.

Most short-sighted members of the upper class went to college too; not clear that we have any data on if / how much a liberal education modifies selfish behavior.

If you want to improve selfishness,look at places where such change may happen , for example in: the military{honor code?}, religion/spirituality, deep relationships{especially with non-selfish people}, being strongly exposed to the suffering of others,meeting emotional role models.

Those seem very deep emotional experiences, very different from the experience of being in college(mostly intellectual, or the college socialization process - i.e. the frat etc).

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