Is it a waste of time to go back to university because you feel you need more education?

As in go back to university?

Yale has about 30-40
openculture.com/freeonlinecourses
And if you have an apple product ITunes U is a free app that lets you download pretty much every open course in the world as podcasts. I think it works on PC too.
Coursera is more directed and makes you do the coursework and not use the lectures so im not into it

wait until you're 60-70ish, then you can study whatever the fuck you want for free

but then life is basically over

>Is it a waste of time to go back to university because you feel you need more education?
>because you feel
>feel

Get a fucking grip, and stop letting your emotions run your life.

>there is a difference between 20 and 70

Have you ever worked in healthcare? Death is stalking you every fucking second.

Feelings are instinctual.

Don't bother with him, he's just a sheltered bourgeois who thinks he's safe forever because he's never had to face danger before in his life.

I'm currently in an engineering major and teach myself most of the content already. I'm just paying for the degree. I wouldn't call myself an autodidact because I learn from the textbooks, but going to class is almost always a waste of time. You learn things in a deeper way by learning them on your own, and not going to class saves a lot of time. I always do above average in my classes, for reference. Most professors don't give a fuck about being a good teacher and are only concerned about their research, and most are unintelligible shitskins.

So are you faggot.

>because you feel you need more education?

Holy spooks Batman!

Explain how this is a spook

>implying that one can only get education from a societal institution
>implying that society's education is desirable
>implying that "education" in itself is some ideal to strive towards

>Is it a waste to do action X because of feeling Y?
You won't know until you investigate your feeling and root it in some facts.

youre jsut so on the fringe arent you man!!!

fuk ur cool bro

No. Read some books. You don't need to pay people forty thousand dollars to tell you what books you can read.

>being taught is not valuable

why pay when i can get books and lectures from top unis free? sure I'll be feeding your kids fries in the drivethrough on the way to your skiing trip, but at least I won't be unoriginal.

>false dilemma
Or you can avoid both being unoriginal and a failure.

If you have a problem with that maybe we could step outside

It's a waste, for sure, you can educate yourself for free, while you actually build up money and incur compounding interest on investment.

That will be more useful to you in the long run than wandering through a wilderness.

The biggest advantage of university isn't being taught, per se. It's access and exposure to a large mass of peers, mentors, assets physical and organizational, and traditions. That and nominal membership in a group with a shared experience.

These things are useful even, or perhaps especially, if you already know everything you need to know.

So why shouldn't OP do this?

I'm not ; I'm .

There are many strong reasons for and against university education that do not crystallize into a clear yes or no recommendation without a lot more insight into OP's situation.

Come clean. What do you really want to know from me, and why? I'll do my best to give you the information you need.

Well can you provide general for and against reasons?

It's a waste a time because it's an adult daycare filled with manchildren

You are the manchild

this nigga went to greendale

It costs alot, and not all persons will be able to make best or even good use of the opportunity. There are many cheaper options which may provide some worth, but these are just as subject to an individual's capabilities to make use of opportunities, and the opportunities are not equal to those found at university.

Any advice I try to give is just going to be a rehashing of the generalities I've already presented, or too prohibitively exhaustive to post for and to digest as a reader - UNLESS you provide me with context for your question.

Why are you considering university? What do you want out of it? What will you with your gains when the experience is done?

Obviously, answering such questions is hard. But you are the one who stand to gain here, not me, so search yourself for answers and commit them to text as ardently and honestly as you can so that I can try to give you what you need to decide your own fate.

Op here

>Why are you considering university?

I didn't study literature at an undergraduate level. All of my knowledge I have at present is from self-research. I don't know anybody else in real life that has an interest in literature.
I feel like there is a certain hole of sorts in my knowledge that being amongst peers and professors that could fill that hole. I know that is vague.

>What will you with your gains when the experience is done?

That I am not sure

There's nothing wrong with self-research. Seeing that gap in your field of knowledge and wanting to fill it in is a solid motivation.

>I don't know anybody else in real life that has an interest in literature.
University can solve that, but it's a hell of an entrance fee. Have you tried - really tried hard - to enter into groups who share and appreciate literature to the standards you are looking for, and don't charge quite so much for membership? Have you thought about how best to make use of your time if you do get into such a group, whether at university or not? Are there side benefits for you if you go to university that you have yet to identify?

I think you said above that you're 23, and that you can "afford" university because you've worked full time for 2 years. Have you thought about what you're giving up in your life by choosing to invest that much of your savings on a literary education at university? Don't you have life plans that will be set significantly back by this expenditure of both time, money, and effort?

I am not trying to dissuade you from university, really. I just want you to have no regrets, and squeeze every blessed drop of benefit from what is a considerable life decision whatever you decide. You want to be sure you are spending money on university to make use of the unique opportunities there and not because putting the work into building a useful network of people is harder than paying for tuition and letting them glom you all together and hope to "make a connection". In fact that's a good way of thinking about it: don't think of university as a blind date, where hopefully you meet cool people and maybe figure out what your life is about. Decide what you want beforehand, weight it against both the simple cost and the opportunity costs of going to university, then make sure you are getting what you need, as much as you can handle and on schedule.

Of course there will be distractions, of course no plan lasts 10 seconds with reality. But you need that plan fully realized and in place so that you know how to pivot with a reality that you didn't expect.

Additionally, if you are not looking for the "piece of paper" aspect of it all, have you considered auditing the courses you need, officially or unofficially? If you just want the peerage and the knowledge, that's an option.

I studied literature at university. I wholeheartedly wish that I forewent the piece of paper and studied on my own time.

>knowledge
Better to think of skills and not knowledge. A tiny difference in language, but believe me it makes a lasting difference on your life.

Not that guy, but I definitely understand what you mean. I'm pretty much self-taught with respect to film knowledge, and I have the same general worry.

But as somebody who went to college (for the wrong degree) who feels this way, I can tell you that the undergrad is almost definitely not worth it. I took some Junior level lit courses, and they were fun and really eye-opening for me personally at the time, but as far as the knowledge they gave me, I now realize I could've basically gotten the same education by reading the professors' books, or the books of their peers.

If you want to get more confidence, here's what you do: You go to a school's website and find their catalogue of classes. Then google for a syllabus of one of the classes that sounds interesting (you might not get one from the same university, but it's still useful). Read everything listed in the syllabus. Write down your thoughts, try to make an argument about some aspect of the work. Search for a book by an academic that covers the same topic (the book and the professor might suck, but the same chance exists for any class you would pay 1k to take, also). Compare your understanding of the material to what the academic's book says. See if there are any gaps in your knowledge. Also, if you can get access to a library database, find popular journal articles on said books. Hopefully the syllabus will have some guidance here.

Basically what I'm saying is that the job of a professor at the undergrad level is more to compile good materials than to teach you anything. The syllabus is the most important thing, especially if it includes links to good journal articles, where you can read the arguments of really smart people and learn a lot more than you would arguing with a bunch of other undergrads and a know-nothing professor. The thing I'm forgetting to say, though, and easily the biggest redeeming factor for these classes, is that with the class you get somebody to grade your writing. Writing long essays and getting feedback on the force of your argument is actually really, really useful to improve your writing skills.

Anyway, getting a masters or a phd might be worth it, but I would avoid the undergrad unless you think you lack the motivation to do this sort of study on your own.

Thanks very much for this. I don't have direct answers for you but I will definitely mull this over.
What do you mean by auditing courses?

I am more considering a MA rather than more undergrad, thanks very much for the reply, though, that is interesting

To audit a course is to passively observe lectures for the puirposes of self-enrichment and academic exploration. You usually do not participate in examinations and other activities that would use up resources or make more work for the instructor(s), but an audited course earns you no academic credits and does not fulfill any course, degree, or hour requirements.

To audit a course officially you usually must get permission from the instructor, as well as satisfying any rules around auditing particular to the institution at which the course is taught (get permission from dean, course is not overfull, etc.). To unofficially audit a course is just to hang around without permission and listen to lectures and study with students, trying to learn everything you can, make friends, and not get caught.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_audit

don't listen to this dropout op

I should mention that the hardest and most rewarding method of entering a certain network is to create it yourself. Depending on your personality this may be a rougher or easier road to what you want.

The important thing is not to be satisfied with your first small achievements, but treat them as stepping stones to ever greater achievements. And you don't have to discard or dismantle your stepping stones once you are done with them, either. Make friends worthy of your ambition, and give as good as you get.

Out of curiosity, where are you from?

Has anyone done the YouTube yale courses to its entirety? Was thinking of doing the modern american novel one

Are you at least employed?

Interesting. I will have to look into it.

I am from Sydney, Australia.

You're a STEMshitter, that's why. I have yet to have a class that was not almost entirely based upon the 'lecture'. Textbook material is either supplementary or irrelevant. Literature courses can be done without the lecture, technically, but then you're missing out on an expert with thousands of hours of research and experience explaining the work formally and thematically.

German class? Sure, I can skip a few classes, but then I'm missing practical experience with the language, and the syllabus has strayed a lot from what he begun with.
facts don't exist.

the constraining factor is money

>facts don't exist
PoMo get out.

>constraining factor is money
>not time
wew lad

facts dont exist only interpretations

Learn to think for yourself rather than quoting N without understanding. To proclaim that facts cannot exist at all is different from saying that we cannot possess them personally.

its more of a philosophical statement that applies perfectly to this context

Our difference is a semantic and not a substantial one. Either you don't realize that, or you don't care. Either deserves censure.

Wrong.

Didn't you hear? We don't want your kind here. Go hang out with the Dadaists.

Define fact.

Define interpretation.

I think it depends on what it is you want to be educated in. There's also the cost factor. Unless you're doing it to get some STEM job it's probably not worth it and you'd be better off learning on your own.

Of course, it's easier said than done as you can see in this thread a lot of people that wish they never had gone and just done "it" on their own but they can only really say that with confidence because they went to college. It's the paradox of wisdom.

Interpretation is the act of trying to understand facts; it is the shadow cast by facts, where the light source is the mind.

Online or "offline"?

this is actually true and I agree, even if the world alone is not enough

>Is it a waste of time to go back to university because you feel you need more education?

Possibly a waste of time but I understand why you'd want to go back. I graduated four years ago and my life has very much stalled of late. I'm putting plans in place to go back to do a Master's degree in September with the intention being to use the time as a way to network/get more work experience. I could do that outside of university sure, but I think it's hard trying to convince employers to give a chance when you're not a student - they kind of look at you funny. I just moved back home after a stint living in a city where nobody would give me a chance (now currently doing some volunteer work for a film festival but that won't really open up many doors after it's over).

I personally think university for education's sake is pointless right now unless you're planning on making your mark in academia.

This isn't PoMo, you dope.
ANYBODY I DISAGREE WITH IS JUST A FUCKING CHRISTIAN BIGOT THAT DOESNT THINK FOR THEMSELVES
There is no shadow because there is no fact.

Tbh I'm just going to university for that sweet free library.

>be European
>all courses are open, and if someone tells you to leave you can sue them into bankruptcy
>not only you can attend but you're also entitled to those professors' time

You guys are really missing out.

I realized at my university yesterday that people (non students) could literally walk right into the three story library and look at anything they wanted and hang out for as long as they want. I wonder how many people do stuff like that

OP, going back to university - particularly after you've done a considerable amount of education - you'll find you're going to be way ahead of your peers. Which, as this user aluded to, makes it only good for networking and that Resume byline. Outclassing all the plebs, I've been able to get great connections with professors who recognize a good student, and have lined up some networking potentials that would have been absolutely impossible for me to get otherwise, I'd say sitting through what are often very frustrating 101-tier courses with the pleb crowd paid off for all the connections I've made.

tl;dr You're going to be the only smart guy in the room, but by being so, can make all those connections you're missing out on. Worth it if money isn't a factor.

This thread is full of retards. What a pity, I was going to post something interesting. Oh, well, nevermind.

Look, I can definitely agree that 99 % of "good old fashioned honest hard work in real jobs" is brain-dead bullshit but there is something undeniably pathetic about going back to university for an undergraduate degree after you already have one.

People on lit are fairly stupid and won't think whether humanities / arts degrees actually teach theories that lead to empirically verified and non trivial conclusions. To put it bluntly, everything outside of STEM in academia is snake oil nonsense.

lit and people like litizens yearn for the days where information wasn't cheap and widely available, where literacy rates were under 90 % among the general population, where STEM subjects hadn't carved out their societally useful and mathematically imposing (in a well justified way) niches, and all this showy bullshit. I think a lot of it stems from this yearning to be the "wise man", where people take your bullshit and aphorisms seriously.

OP, give us more detail. Are you seriously dumb enough to think that arts / humanities degrees are worthwhile intellectually or what,m?

Why do people take arts / humanities degrees nowadays?

STEM is snake oil.

>empirically verified
Presuppositions.

Pretty sure op wants to do postgrad stuff

Yes,

You can just become an autodidact mah niggah