[aiethics] Tell kids to go to college?

[Brenda R. Freedman]

Alicebot AI Ethics Committee - http://www.alicebot.org


I would have to agree with you on many of your
observations. I also want to state that education is
one of society's most important tools. Heath, you do
not have to defend your position about education and
that you are attending an "ordinary" college. In my
opinion, there are "no oridinary" colleges, because
any type of learning from whatevere source is
valuable. I liken this to people who are from non
English speaking countries who I have seen time and
time again apologize for their English. My reply in
most situations is "I cannot even speak your language"
so no need to apologize. Heath, it is wonderful that
you are able to take advantage of other paths of
learning through course work at your college.

We really never know when an opportunity may present
itself in one form or another, but I feel that the key
is to be aware of what may be just around the corner.
You all have a distinct advantage of having the
Internet as a forum for discussions and information.

For each and every one of you reading this message,
there are thousands, if not millions, who cannot
experience this opportunity for one reason or another.


Take this opportunity to enlighten the benefits of the
Internet. Believe it or not, there are thousands of
people out there who would be so ever grateful to your
kind words. Be proud that you are all part of a
generation that will take technology to the next
level. 

Brenda


--- LilBwana <lilbwana@unwiredglobe.net> wrote:
> Alicebot AI Ethics Committee -
> http://www.alicebot.org
> 
> 
>         The "Idea" of College is to expand on the
> knowledge that one has
> acquired, yet in today's society it has become the
> mission of most colleges
> to "re-program" it's students, so much now that they
> try to justify what
> they are doing by implementing theories in earlier
> schools like High School,
> middle school, and even elementary, where they feel
> that teaching tiny kids
> evolution they are thereby changing society.  We
> have reached a point where
> it no longer matters what the parents of the child
> thinks, or believes, it
> is what the public schools can program into the
> minds of the young, to get
> them into a more "sociological" balance.  Thereby
> the children lose respect
> in their parents, and have more faith in a so called
> society, or government.
> What happened to teaching our kids the basics of
> life, the mathematics, the
> reading, writing, why is it most students can tell
> you whatever you need to
> know about evolution, and the so-called problems
> with the environment, yet
> they cannot write a grammatically complete sentence,
> and they have a problem
> with simple mathematics.  Why are we not the top
> educated country in the
> world?  Why are our kids being passed when they
> cannot even understand their
> report card.
>         As Dr. Wallace mentioned also a problem with
> college is the fact of
> paying off student loans, he was saying that you can
> learn more, and get
> farther in the job market if you know how to teach
> yourself, and learn from
> independent sources.  Get the Education system back
> to the basics, and I
> will say that it is worth a shot.
> 
> Justin
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Heath Borders-Wing" <hborders@mail.win.org>
> To: "Alicebot AI Ethics Committee"
> <aiethics@listbot.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 11:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [aiethics] Tell kids to go to college?
> 
> 
> > Alicebot AI Ethics Committee -
> http://www.alicebot.org
> >
> >
> > Hi.  I'm a new member, so I don't want to come off
> as unfriendly or
> > anything, but I have to disagree with all the
> college-education bashing.
> > I'm not sure what colleges you guys had experience
> with, but at mine, the
> > university of missouri-columbia, which is an
> ordinary state school with a
> > slightly better than average engineering program,
> where I am majoring in
> > computer science, computer engineering, and math.
> >
> > Anyways, at my program, as with many others,
> student learn a foundation of
> > theory on the subjects.  The college focuses on
> studies and research, not
> > training people for jobs.  As of late, my college
> has started turning more
> > towards a job training degree program rather than
> a program for those that
> > wish to learn about the topic, regardless of
> whether they wish to work in
> > the field.  While I do feel that I am not learning
> as much as a could be
> at
> > college, I do feel that it has given me a great
> foundation on which to
> > build.  Furthermore, because of general education
> requirements, I have
> > learned about areas that previously did not
> interest me.  This has made me
> > more worldly and a more informed citizen.  While
> someone may become MCSE
> > certified and get a high-paying job, any good
> student of computer sciences
> > can do the same.  The advantage of being college
> educated lies in the
> > broader range of topics the college student will
> have studied.  This will
> > allow me to possibly take a job in any range of
> areas while someone who is
> > MCSE certified is restricted to a specific area. 
> Further, they do not
> have
> > the more learned background in the sciences and
> the arts that the college
> > student has, which brings new perspectives and
> solutions into my work,
> > increasing its quality.
> >
> > There is no denying that helping on an open-source
> project, or becoming
> MCSE
> > certified will impart signifigant knowledge onto a
> prospective student.
> But
> > it is most important that students be well-rounded
> in their education and
> > establish a foundation in multiple areas to make
> them more valuable to
> > companies and the world in general.
> >
> > -Heath
> >
> >
> >
>
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> 
> 
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