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Comment by terrellm | Hacker News Reader

That means that 4-year universities wouldn't work even if they were functioning correctly, which they aren't.

The real benefit of a college degree is that it broadens your horizons and increases your capacity for knowledge. Sure you can do that on your own but most 18-21 year olds have trouble maintaining the focus required for self-learning.

Theory classes like accounting, finance, database, history provide the most benefit and really don't change a lot over time. The more hands-on classes like programming (anyone use Cobol after Y2k?) Internet marketing (did you know you can PAY to be on search engines?) were a waste of time as they did quickly become outdated.

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I'm something of an enthusiast... but what do you get out of a history class that you don't get out of a history book?

(if the economy was worse when I came of age, or if my family was wealthier, I probably would be some sort of history-related academic today.)

1) A good idea about which history books to read, and in what order. 2) A collection of knowledgeable colleagues with whom to discuss history 3) (optional) A pretty certificate.

"I'm something of an enthusiast... but what do you get out of a history class that you don't get out of a history book?"

Some people (myself among them) prefer to learn by initially getting taught the subject basics from a person that knows the subject matter. This allows you to get direct feedback to your questions, gives you an idea of the overall scope of the subject and sets you thinking on the right path.

For example, I find trying to learn a new programming language from scratch from a book very challenging. Whereas if I attended a basic course on it (even for a few hours or days just to cover the basics), I learn it much better and faster. I then go off and buy the necessary books/search the web to augment my knowledge. Different people learn differently. I just happen to prefer human contact at the outset, whereas others will pick you a book and teach themselves to become experts all on their own.

Any professor worth their salt will guide a debate among the classmates, and try to get students to argue about the interpretations of events, instead of spoonfeeding them from a history book.

So, what do you get? A set of different views coming from your classmates. An exposure to methods of debate. And so on.

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