I dropped out of college back in 2015 because I'm lazy and stupid...

it's run like a business. academics is dead. trying hard is rewarded over actual competence. just thinking about it makes me fucking depressed.

If you grow up a few years you might find college to be not so bad.

You don't need to go to college nor graduate it to ''contribute to science'' (whatever you think this means).

However, you do need to be disciplined and study.

You can study anything you want on your own user. The trick is if you will actually do it.

I decided, if getting a degree has become so commonplace, so basic, and so meaningless, and if graduating meant that I would be placed in the same bin as the other complete fucking losers and worthless scum that receive degrees, I want no part in it. getting a degree feels more self deprecating than not getting one

and to clarify, since I feel like that last post came off a bit wrong, I am not proud of this.

ideally I should have been able to improve my school. make it a better place. make it a place that I would be proud of graduating from. it's just a bit difficult for me, as I am not outgoing, and people around me seem happy in their pathetic squalor. I had made some attempts at changing things, but people would always manage to "prove" (by consensus) that everything is fine and there is no reason to change. so I quit.

OP, how old are you?

Like this user said, you can always self-teach yourself, at your own pace. There are many people on stack exchange (especially math & physics) who are self-taught savants.

Sometimes students say they're lazy and stupid because they failed a class, but a lot of them weren't prepared for the class to begin with. Usually their knowledge of the basic fundamentals is poor, causing constant road blocks that otherwise wouldn't exist if they had studied correctly. Ask yourself, "Why did I fail? What did I lack?" Don't just use adjectives, think about it, deeply.

I recommend starting with Khan Academy, they have all the knowledge necessary for the first two years of an undergraduate science education. And if you need it, they have lower level material so you can get up to pace. Go and watch some videos about studying science and math efficiently. This all takes hard work, there is no other way.

I don't disagree with what you are saying

I just feel that you are kind of taking this huge moral high ground in a way that it sounds as if you were trying to inflate your ego as much as you can.

Don't you see the wrong in this stance you are taking?

in what way? are you saying I shouldn't assume that I could have done anything to change it? or that I shouldn't assume that I know what's best?

No its horseshit you have to learn the hardway I'm doing mech eng and im not srsly not that smart but the work is there it can get dense but the habits build up over time later I started reading the textbooks something I've never thought I'd do but in mv case its just a means to an end, the equations and the concepts are relevant to the objective and thats it whateveryou do at least have the good work ethic

or the terms "pathetic squalor" and "worthless scum"?

those were mostly just hyperbole of how I feel