I earned three degrees and did "hard time" at five different universities, including an elite Ivy League institution. I can attest that the education received at a land-grant university is equivalent to that from an Ivy League college. The difference is that the Ivy League trades on its historic status ("We are the oldest") to attract the most gifted students, which guarantees Ivy grads will be exceptional by virtue of that pre-selection, not because of the education. The same gifted student who attends Purdue or the Univ. of Texas will be as exceptional and do as well in life. In short, parents pay the high tuition at Ivy schools for status ("My son went to Harvard). An Ivy degree is a $200K status symbol. The spiraling costs of higher education reflect a general lack of fiscal accountability, the "edifice complex" (adding ever more buildings to maintain), and activities unrelated to learnIng (football factories, billion dollar portfolio management, and government research contracts). The reformation of Academia is already underway, however. Employers long ago stopped hiring degrees. It no longer guarantees competence. Smart employers now hire employees on a temporary basis and judge their ability to do the actual work before making them permanent employees. Most of the jobs in modern business do not require a degree, and people like John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, David Murdock, and others built billion dollar empires without acquiring a degree. Truly accomplished people are autodidacts -- they teach themselves what they need to know as it becomes necessary or useful. The "woke" ideology that now characterizes the faculty at most Ivy universities and all of the mainstream media accounts for the shift in Academia from an emphasis on learning and reason to an emphasis on ideology and obedience. That is the true parallel to the medieval church. The neo-Marxist left in Academia, the media, and in politics wants to punish non-believers by denying them the right to speak (deplatforming) or banning them from society (the modern version of excommunication). The Jesuits Inquisition, dedicated to hunting down "heretics" is exactly the same mentality as the neo-Marxists casting out those who espouse the traditional values of Western Civilization embodied in the nuclear family, the Constitution, and free market enterprise -- largely associated with "conservatives" today -- that were mainstream American values even while Americans were colonial subjects of England.
Well your presentation is ( simplistic / has a narrow focus) completely void of ( historical context) basically its a bad peace of ( propaganda) that would be presented to a group of 8th. Graders. This level of pfooiganda was fed to me in school that is why I spend enlisted on 1972 to ( protect the free world against communism) then their was Henry Kissinger's ( domino theory) The only way to describe your presentation is ( propaganda) and not very good propaganda
I will disagree with you on one point: employers still definitely hire degrees. I know a guy whose job it is to parade people's resumes around to companies to find them a job (forget the job title for that) and the amount of hyper-qualified people that get rejected because "it says here they don't have a college degree" is outrageous. Maybe smart employers don't do that, but smart people are always the minority. (Aside from that, solid post)
Jesuit Inquisition? Was there such a thing? Spanish Inquisition, yes there was. But the Jesuits were never part of it. I agree with your position except two, one of them not hiring on degrees. The Jesuits pioneered formal education that, to this day, encourages critical thinking at the risk of producing thinkers who did become enemies of the Catholic Church (think of Voltaire and many others). No political correctness or mind control there. This speaks much about the Jesuits' generosity and pureness of intention. Their approach to education through cura personalis (personal development of the whole person, emphasizing human dignity and care of the mind, body and spirit) remains the best there is.
@@salemnjejimana Networking is free if you are intelligent, only someone under the corruption of several layers of authoritarian institutions believes that in the age of the modern internet you need to go to COLLEGE to make a network. Use the internet, it is literally better than college full stop.
@@salemnjejimana this is pro-university propaganda/cope. universities are an IQ funnel, thus yes being surrounded by high IQ people will help accelerate your ideas to some extent, but so would any place that forces on you an IQ test to enter, or allows you access to high IQ ideas. (i.e. if businesses administered IQ tests, the ones with the highest cutoffs would have the same "networking" benefits as a top-tier university). and even then, this "networking" only really helps you is you want to succeed as a slave of the establishment. the most innovative people in the world were not defined by their networking, but by their isolation from people. the only way to think with originality is to not be pressured into conformity, and really the only way to not be pressured into conformity is to not be pressured, by not interacting with people
The Harvard Effect is real: Going to a Top 6 school increases chances of life success because of the chance for good networking and schmoozing. Though there are many schools where the education is just as good and even better in some areas.
I have this sad feeling while listening to Thiel, that most people hear him and take his speeches as some kind of entertainment, instead of direct and absolutely on point insiders mind.
That's because everyone in the room is filthy rich just like him. Theil is essentially right in his critique of the University but in the end, so what? These people are all on their fancy life boats sipping wine and having self serving pseudo-intellectual discussions about why the titanic (their former ship) is sinking. That is all this is.That is why it feels so empty.
Just look at the smugness of this couple. Denial. Nothing will change. Big Money runs Universities today. Private Equity/Institutional Investors plow billions into Off Campus-Privately Owned 5 Story Student Housing. $700 per room, per month. College Presidents making +$500,000 per year, plus travel and expenses. Catbird Jobs for family members. Totally Rigged and Corrupt. 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑
They did it because they don't know the Brazilian colleges... Globalism is a fact worldwide. Ideology and leftism also are. Educational populism either.
I've always said that universities were never intended to be the vocational schools we expect them to be today. They were the offspring of families who were already doing well and didn't need to work. They just needed the refinement of the humanities and the logic of math & science so they could assume their inherited leadership roles effectively. If you needed to work for a living, you went to a vocational school or got an apprenticeship. Or learned your father's trade. Or took over your father's farm. Or simply found a nearby assembly line to join. But at some point (and it might have been influenced by the GI Bill post WWII) our entire society decided the only way to succeed was with a college degree.
The development of the research university in the 19th century clouded the issue somewhat, but you are largely correct. What some people have a hard time accepting is that there was real value in this function, just as there is real value in creating exclusive groups where the most talented students can get a chance to rub shoulders with the children of wealthy families who might be able to fund their ideas.
@@bfelb Yeah but the difference is that the police are not an institution, but an agency that serves an institution, it behaves that way so long as the state instructs it to do so.
The Brand is so strong and the pull of "if my kid doesn't graduate from Harvard he will be worthless" is so great nothing can effect it until this narrative collapses.
""Get people out of academia!", said the billionaire with a BA and a JD from Stanford turned preacher and author as a side gig." Said the guy who doesn't realize it's not 1990 any more. ".....much worse than 30 or 40 years ago....." said Thiel
I’ve thought that the future thinkers of America will be homeschooled children that go to small colleges off the beaten path , the ones that are taught to think for themselves not what to think .
@adamfattal468. All I can say is that it’d better be true, or we’re all going to hell in a hand basket. Personally, I’m not that optimistic. Most homeschooled kids are as indoctrinated as those in public and private institutions. I will say this: best I can tell, the ONLY children taught how to think rather than what to think are homeschooled.
Unless people see how this plays out, they will not contribute toward fixing the problem. There was a missed opportunity to draw out a vivid picture (with numbers) of how this can irreparably damage society if left unchecked. There are many vectors: financial, ideological impact on business, politics, government (in an administrative-deep state way), law, etc. Obviously, this absolutely affects ALL institutions that matter. If convincing data is held back from the public, then the public won't do anything about it.
Ironically ur right taking free thought and education in a society profoundly affects all areas of the society and government. That’s why a billionaire theocrat is proposing this be done so he can take over the space that he claims universities use and exploit now. If you become offended or scared of anyone wanting to learn something or choose what to read u need to reevaluate ur thinking. Also if u think someone policing thought know they’ll police ur thoughts and access to information also
The problem is the system works. On average, top universities enroll the most talented kids, the best companies know this and recruit from those schools. All of the real subjects (math, engineering, econ, etc) are taught as well as ever (which is what employers care about) most students see politically correct classes as they are - an easy A
Exactly. If anything, university degrees work as a filter for hard work and foundational knowledge, which saves time and effort for employers. Very valuable at scale.
If the system works, why is it a problem? How do you know the top universities enroll the most talented kids? (all of them?) And what do you mean by "real" subjects, and that they are taught as well as ever?
John Adams Quote, "I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.”
As Swami Vivekananda says: “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already present in man” so education is something which is there within us it's just how much we strive for it and how much we desire to learn something new. We don't want our kids to believe that
Professors i heard spend more time working for a marketing firm than teaching they usally have assistants that do all the teaching who are from other countries. .
The last 30 years was a blur, and I do not even recall when we started calling the students funding units, but Universities and colleges are Businesses. I can only speak intelligently about engineering, but the stuff we teach is almost the same across the board and any Canadian undergrad engineering school is on par with MIT. But the opportunity afforded to the MIT undergrad is due to their grad school and funding. MIT and top schools attract top professors and top research funding and do remarkably good work. The system is inherently corrupt because of money and the men that created these great institutions would be sad to see that that many great minds are being wasted because of monetary concerns.
I don't doubt that the quality of teaching is similar at most engineering schools - but the other big thing that sets a few top schools apart is the quality of the students themselves, and the benefits of large numbers of the most talented minds congregating in the same place.
@@alanlight7740 I suspect that would be true, but I can not find any data on that. Engineering already has the highest cut off in Canada and in the USA the average engineering undergrad IQ is 128 and 1/3 to 1/2 will not graduate. Even marks in the 90's will not guarantee you a spot in Waterloo engineering our top school and they look at other things as well. But many students looking to do grad studies already have in mind the professor they want and many chose their school for a specific departments expertise. MIT turns out some good work so it is not to far of a stretch that you can do good things with the brighter kids. It might be hyperbolic but in Canada all engineering grads are very close in competence en masse and the quality of grad work is more a function of your supervisors expertise.
@@alanlight7740 WRT to teaching ability a colleague applied for a math spot at a school not recognised as strong in math and they had over 1000 applications, so their is no shortage of qualified professors.
@@justbeyondthemath4559 - on the teaching side I can very well believe it. The brightest students pretty much teach themselves anyway so no big deal. I agree that even the quality of lower tier engineers is pretty high, but the people I know in SIlicon Valley have found that at the very highest levels there are huge differences in productivity between the very best and the almost best engineers. They're not talking two or three times as productive, but more like fifty or one hundred times as productive. Get a handful of _those_ guys together in one room and amazing things happen.
@@alanlight7740 I have found the top few percent of colleagues and former students accomplish more than the majority as well. But I think Dr. Jordan Peterson has data that the Pareto distribution is across the board in most disciplines but likely more pronounced in medicine, physics and engineering to name a few.
Obviously a surgeon needs to get a degree but not all jobs require this. The working class and the places they work need to recognize other kinds of experience in place of college for certain kinds of jobs.
Is it obvious, though? Medical school suffers from the same artificial shortages as all the others, and the level of overwork (and I don't mean just studying hard) is tantamount to a hazing process. The hours that medical professionals have to put up with are not only unhealthy for practitioners, but also potentially dangerous for the patients. Ironic considering it's healthcare. In my opinion, there should be several pathways to becoming a physician, of which medical school would only be one.
Keep going with the Medieval church analogy and the necessity for reform only from without. Recall that identifying your Luther w his dozens of treatises is the just the first step. Following the analogy, the next step is the church sends out a professional hit squad to kill Luther, and he goes on the run. He survives because the church is slow to react, and Luther already has support in the population and some princes who are more than ready to toss the the Catholic Church of the time.
Never really thought of the possibility that the universities can be inflating grades AND engaging in artificial scarcity at the same time. Nasty stuff, but it may also mean that a university could, in theory, admit more people without sacrificing educational quality.
In some fields of science there is an opposition to free thinking in BOTH directions -- e.g. you can't easily confront the new agricultural science methods but you can't easily confront the organic methods either. Anyone can speak up but most people are so risk-averse that they just won't. There seems to be a trend in every part of society these days in which people are so risk-averse that they will not allow any movement, not even in small steps.
Ayn Rand said it 50-60yrs ago...do not support your enemies...the declining value of a college education coupled with dismal choices of colleges that support our conservative values are enough reasons to actively search out alternate career choices or schools with lesser prestige but better curriculum
Elite Education is not worth a lifetime of college debt. It’s the prestige of the elite university that drives its value, not the quality of the content. If even Elites are willing to admit that then you know the show has gone to far.
I think you can gain from university if you engage, which only the top 5% do and the others always pass with a reasonable mark. Once you’re in it’s very difficult to fail. Esp the rich, who can get through without reading a single book. Within 50 years I believe the whole education system will change with new technology - which might usher in more of a meritocracy instead of the present oligarchy.
A Great companion video for this , "The Critical Turn In Education | James Lindsay" The Marxification of Education Workshop, Session 1 Lindsay explains in great detail the, who, what and why they are going after our children.
The damage done by people who wield exponentially more power than they could possible have a right to is the same evil in a university or in the business world.
I’d say your opinion applies to Thiel himself and many of the people in the room. Why so much frustration and anger directed at educational organizations? I’ll tell you why on his part - he’s an evangelical Christian nut job. He has money, and therefore power, and wields it towards those things that challenge his world view. If you don’t like formal education or certain colleges, don’t go there. Why so much grievance and anger? Because we have nothing left to collectively rail against. Not right now, at least.
There’s nothing like those who benefited from elite universities railing against them. It like they’re like humble-bragging, but humble-destroying. What’s more elite than elite? Those who want to wield power given by elites to destroy those elites. 😂 Great he’s referring to lynching. There’s nothing like a white elite conservative referring to that most hideous institution of mob rule and murder over black Americans.
@@brenkelly8163 I once read that part of governance downfall is the inability to find positions of power for all those graduating from elite institutions. Those that couldn’t find positions within the establishment formed counter organizations. This was posited to be part of human nature. I think there is something to that thought and something we are seeing playing out here and across America.
Dated a girl from Stanford when I went to a state school, and didn't realize until years after that she wanted to go out with me BECAUSE I went to a normal state school! Didn't figure it out until years later, so a missed opportunity.
The medieval church at least had an actual positive effect on the day to day lives of ordinary people. for all the corruption at the top, they operated hospitals, schools, and provided care and hospitality. In the 1400s a peasant could travel from one end of Britian to another and always have a free place to stay the night. Amd if they were sick, there would always be a place to go that might not be able to do much to heal you but at least could comfort you. Britain by the late 1500s was perhaps more dynamic, but it was a much meaner place.
They have to offer courses that the people with the funds to attend, can get the grades they need to graduate. People wont support institutions if their kids dont get a degree.
"Theres no way to change within, I think those are all complete fool's errands" - I'd apply that to the current state of the usa as well. So many efforts, yet all been futile on the wrong course usa is going.
The early Church has held fast to it's beliefs through thick and thin. Sure, there has always been corruption in some places at sometimes. Men are weak but the Church Jesus built will last for eternity!
He is correct about the corruption of the universities. Woke and CRT world ignore the truth of the order of creation and human dignity. This attack on human existence brings disaster. However, I disagree with the analogy with the Catholic Church. The Church, though suffering in the Renaissance can only reform from the inside. St. Francis and St. Dominic and St. Ignatius of Loyola were part of that reform from within.
Engineering, Math, Chemistry, Physics -- Teaches students to solve problems. Gender Studies, Psychology -- Teaches students how to invent new social problems and diverts money from valid fields in hard science.
University has become a grift. You trade large amounts of money for a piece of paper of accreditation. Observation of the average college student makes me realized the degree has little value making a person a viable asset in the open market. You may be better off giving an employer 20k in cash to higher you, that may be a better investment.
An exclusive night club about 50 years ago where all the well-connected got together for sex, and which today is a sad parody of its inglorious past. Or something like that - I'm no expert on the subject. Look it up for yourself.
Entrepreneurial capitalism the problem. Along with people who exaggerate what they don't want, like or fear- as is so clear here. What do you actually want?
Ivy League (and universities in general) are just ways of grouping together (and branding) above average, hard working and ambitious people. You can be an above average, hard working and ambitious person and not go to these institutions. You won't get the brand mark though.
It’s true that the system of higher education is screwed, but the comparisons with the pre-Reformation Church is lazy and gratuitous. How about simple economics? There is just no way that the money + time invested in so many degrees in higher education can ever be repaid or justified. Then there are all the other indefensible aspects of the academy, such as their soi-disant status as intellectual bulwarks of society, not just sports money machines or diploma mills. And yet the institution continues to advance untenable arguments that most, if not all people should go to higher education, and push higher levels of certification and degrees into more basic levels of employment. If allowed, a Ph.D. Would eventually be required to install toilets.
@@starguy2718 yea it was. A lot less corrupt than the small hats Thiel is related to... but I am sure there is no connection there. He just forgot to mention that part.
Is it the guy that owns the PayPal? Perhaps he should clean up his own house first before telling others what to do. Don’t misunderstand me, I think most universities these days are totally corrupt, overpriced and basically a waste of time. But you cannot charge people $2500 for spreading “misinformation “ and tell others not to do it.
I guess if you start with the assumption that universities are bad, say it over and over and don't even provide any evidence as to why that is, or even define what you mean by bad then I should listen to you. I might agree with you but there are things university professors are good at research, being articulate and defending their findings. This video is little more than name calling.
@@hdthor But he is GAY go look it and he is a big Republican donor to the party so yes being GAY you can fiscally conservative. Do you know who this man is.
Honestly. He just cherry picks a few pissy Ivy League examples. Why people listen to these fast talking rich imbeciles with 0 substance. I will Never understand.
Thiel is full of crap. He’s a billionaire who’s mad that gawker outed him and is trying to make the rest of us suffer. Universities provide an intrinsic and vital service by educating the public and creating knowledge. This whole argument is a canard to destroy what remains of our educational system.
@X vonPocalypse honestly there is merit to an honest critique of elite universities. Writing off universities or education as a concept is without merit. It’s retarded.
@X vonPocalypse Source? “just trust me, bro.” Where’s the evidence for that? Universities can be better, yes, but you guys and your oligarchs always talk in broad, non, specifics to appeal to the broader and banality loving public.
@X vonPocalypse this happens virtually never. Professors are not easily dismissed and students do not make staffing decisions. Almost no one has been attacked physically for wanting to speak at a college. Instead sensationalist lead and frankly gullibility have caused many non college students to believe these conditions exist. Pick up a book please.
@X vonPocalypse yeah banal sayings are full of nuance. How about none so blind as those who just make stuff up and form beliefs about the world with 0 evidence.
Does that mean it's hardly corrupt at all? A Few Minutes Latekh... Oh, it's the *late* dark ages. Or was the church corrupt during the whole mædevil period? and how do you spell that7 should i go to uni to learn how to spell7
Another Billionaire with all kinds of "well-intended" solutions! (Bill Gates, Bloomberg, etc) Peter Thiel is convinced that his fortune gives him the right to tell us how to live our life, what is good or bad for the rest of us!
I earned three degrees and did "hard time" at five different universities, including an elite Ivy League institution. I can attest that the education received at a land-grant university is equivalent to that from an Ivy League college. The difference is that the Ivy League trades on its historic status ("We are the oldest") to attract the most gifted students, which guarantees Ivy grads will be exceptional by virtue of that pre-selection, not because of the education. The same gifted student who attends Purdue or the Univ. of Texas will be as exceptional and do as well in life. In short, parents pay the high tuition at Ivy schools for status ("My son went to Harvard). An Ivy degree is a $200K status symbol. The spiraling costs of higher education reflect a general lack of fiscal accountability, the "edifice complex" (adding ever more buildings to maintain), and activities unrelated to learnIng (football factories, billion dollar portfolio management, and government research contracts).
The reformation of Academia is already underway, however. Employers long ago stopped hiring degrees. It no longer guarantees competence. Smart employers now hire employees on a temporary basis and judge their ability to do the actual work before making them permanent employees. Most of the jobs in modern business do not require a degree, and people like John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, David Murdock, and others built billion dollar empires without acquiring a degree. Truly accomplished people are autodidacts -- they teach themselves what they need to know as it becomes necessary or useful.
The "woke" ideology that now characterizes the faculty at most Ivy universities and all of the mainstream media accounts for the shift in Academia from an emphasis on learning and reason to an emphasis on ideology and obedience. That is the true parallel to the medieval church. The neo-Marxist left in Academia, the media, and in politics wants to punish non-believers by denying them the right to speak (deplatforming) or banning them from society (the modern version of excommunication). The Jesuits Inquisition, dedicated to hunting down "heretics" is exactly the same mentality as the neo-Marxists casting out those who espouse the traditional values of Western Civilization embodied in the nuclear family, the Constitution, and free market enterprise -- largely associated with "conservatives" today -- that were mainstream American values even while Americans were colonial subjects of England.
Well your presentation is ( simplistic / has a narrow focus) completely void of ( historical context) basically its a bad peace of ( propaganda) that would be presented to a group of 8th. Graders.
This level of pfooiganda was fed to me in school that is why I spend enlisted on 1972 to ( protect the free world against communism) then their was Henry Kissinger's ( domino theory)
The only way to describe your presentation is ( propaganda) and not very good propaganda
I will disagree with you on one point: employers still definitely hire degrees. I know a guy whose job it is to parade people's resumes around to companies to find them a job (forget the job title for that) and the amount of hyper-qualified people that get rejected because "it says here they don't have a college degree" is outrageous. Maybe smart employers don't do that, but smart people are always the minority. (Aside from that, solid post)
first time in my 50 years I heard the word Autodidacts. And I think I am one. Never stop learning I guess.
Gary K. Nedrow - One of the best comments I've ever read on YT. Well said!
Jesuit Inquisition? Was there such a thing? Spanish Inquisition, yes there was. But the Jesuits were never part of it. I agree with your position except two, one of them not hiring on degrees. The Jesuits pioneered formal education that, to this day, encourages critical thinking at the risk of producing thinkers who did become enemies of the Catholic Church (think of Voltaire and many others). No political correctness or mind control there. This speaks much about the Jesuits' generosity and pureness of intention. Their approach to education through cura personalis (personal development of the whole person, emphasizing human dignity and care of the mind, body and spirit) remains the best there is.
Ur not paying for the education ur paying for the brand and reputation
And huge pool of networking opportunities. The only way you make it in this world is who you know and who knows you.
@@salemnjejimana I feel that most of everything you do in life is a selling game
@@salemnjejimana Networking is free if you are intelligent, only someone under the corruption of several layers of authoritarian institutions believes that in the age of the modern internet you need to go to COLLEGE to make a network. Use the internet, it is literally better than college full stop.
you're really just paying for an IQ test
@@salemnjejimana this is pro-university propaganda/cope. universities are an IQ funnel, thus yes being surrounded by high IQ people will help accelerate your ideas to some extent, but so would any place that forces on you an IQ test to enter, or allows you access to high IQ ideas. (i.e. if businesses administered IQ tests, the ones with the highest cutoffs would have the same "networking" benefits as a top-tier university). and even then, this "networking" only really helps you is you want to succeed as a slave of the establishment. the most innovative people in the world were not defined by their networking, but by their isolation from people. the only way to think with originality is to not be pressured into conformity, and really the only way to not be pressured into conformity is to not be pressured, by not interacting with people
The Studio 54 analogy is striking
"Haha medieval people were stupid enough to buy indulgences"
Modernity- ......
Yuri Bezmenov warned us 40 years ago.
Alinsky and his rules for radicals wasn’t hidden from the populace either.
True but did you vote for Trump?
@@Ryan-xq3kl
I didn’t vote for Biden or Obama
@@Ryan-xq3kl ???
The Harvard Effect is real: Going to a Top 6 school increases chances of life success because of the chance for good networking and schmoozing.
Though there are many schools where the education is just as good and even better in some areas.
One needs to know how to conform to the behaviors of those networks and use those networks effectively, a socialization process itself.
@@pequodexpress Absolutely.
And for those who do, or make lucky chance relationships, The Harvard Effect can move mountains! 😊
Yet still thousands of people who didn't attend college achieve a greater level of success every day...
I have this sad feeling while listening to Thiel, that most people hear him and take his speeches as some kind of entertainment, instead of direct and absolutely on point insiders mind.
That's because everyone in the room is filthy rich just like him. Theil is essentially right in his critique of the University but in the end, so what? These people are all on their fancy life boats sipping wine and having self serving pseudo-intellectual discussions about why the titanic (their former ship) is sinking. That is all this is.That is why it feels so empty.
Just look at the smugness of this couple. Denial. Nothing will change. Big Money runs Universities today. Private Equity/Institutional Investors plow billions into Off Campus-Privately Owned 5 Story Student Housing. $700 per room, per month. College Presidents making +$500,000 per year, plus travel and expenses. Catbird Jobs for family members. Totally Rigged and Corrupt. 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑
They did it because they don't know the Brazilian colleges... Globalism is a fact worldwide. Ideology and leftism also are. Educational populism either.
He only states what he guesses you are afraid of.
He's a sociopath working behind the scenes to dismantle the country and re-form it into a digital fiefdom.
I've always said that universities were never intended to be the vocational schools we expect them to be today. They were the offspring of families who were already doing well and didn't need to work. They just needed the refinement of the humanities and the logic of math & science so they could assume their inherited leadership roles effectively. If you needed to work for a living, you went to a vocational school or got an apprenticeship. Or learned your father's trade. Or took over your father's farm. Or simply found a nearby assembly line to join. But at some point (and it might have been influenced by the GI Bill post WWII) our entire society decided the only way to succeed was with a college degree.
The development of the research university in the 19th century clouded the issue somewhat, but you are largely correct.
What some people have a hard time accepting is that there was real value in this function, just as there is real value in creating exclusive groups where the most talented students can get a chance to rub shoulders with the children of wealthy families who might be able to fund their ideas.
"These institutions are not reformable from within."
That’s what some people say about the police, go figure
@@bfelb Yeah but the difference is that the police are not an institution, but an agency that serves an institution, it behaves that way so long as the state instructs it to do so.
The Brand is so strong and the pull of "if my kid doesn't graduate from Harvard he will be worthless" is so great nothing can effect it until this narrative collapses.
There will be a lot more than just the narrative that collapses when it happens.
@@cruisinusa5110 Asian parents. Harvard, Stanford, MIT, a few others, or you’re a failure.
Religion is the best metaphor for this situation.
I agree , it won't self-correct.
The church*
Educational credentials prove compliance, indicate knowledge, and say nothing of understanding.
Brilliant. Don't we all know a PhD with zero critical thinking? Oy
"Get people out of academia!", said the billionaire with a BA and a JD from Stanford turned preacher and author as a side gig.
""Get people out of academia!", said the billionaire with a BA and a JD from Stanford turned preacher and author as a side gig."
Said the guy who doesn't realize it's not 1990 any more.
".....much worse than 30 or 40 years ago....." said Thiel
Ad hominem? Thanks for conceding his point.
I’ve thought that the future thinkers of America will be homeschooled children that go to small colleges off the beaten path , the ones that are taught to think for themselves not what to think .
And is that true?
@adamfattal468.
All I can say is that it’d better be true, or we’re all going to hell in a hand basket. Personally, I’m not that optimistic. Most homeschooled kids are as indoctrinated as those in public and private institutions. I will say this: best I can tell, the ONLY children taught how to think rather than what to think are homeschooled.
They have Hedge Funds each north of $30,000,000,000.00
Unless people see how this plays out, they will not contribute toward fixing the problem. There was a missed opportunity to draw out a vivid picture (with numbers) of how this can irreparably damage society if left unchecked. There are many vectors: financial, ideological impact on business, politics, government (in an administrative-deep state way), law, etc. Obviously, this absolutely affects ALL institutions that matter. If convincing data is held back from the public, then the public won't do anything about it.
Ironically ur right taking free thought and education in a society profoundly affects all areas of the society and government. That’s why a billionaire theocrat is proposing this be done so he can take over the space that he claims universities use and exploit now.
If you become offended or scared of anyone wanting to learn something or choose what to read u need to reevaluate ur thinking. Also if u think someone policing thought know they’ll police ur thoughts and access to information also
The problem is the system works. On average, top universities enroll the most talented kids, the best companies know this and recruit from those schools. All of the real subjects (math, engineering, econ, etc) are taught as well as ever (which is what employers care about) most students see politically correct classes as they are - an easy A
Exactly. If anything, university degrees work as a filter for hard work and foundational knowledge, which saves time and effort for employers. Very valuable at scale.
If the system works, why is it a problem? How do you know the top universities enroll the most talented kids? (all of them?) And what do you mean by "real" subjects, and that they are taught as well as ever?
John Adams Quote, "I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.”
As Swami Vivekananda says: “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already present in man” so education is something which is there within us it's just how much we strive for it and how much we desire to learn something new. We don't want our kids to believe that
Vivekananda never build any university or school only done is free lecture
@@texas4478 He was a renunciate; that is all he could do.
He was more of a mirror. Take it or leave it. No need for a worthless comment.
@@texas4478 but he do inspire TATAs to create IISC, the best science university of the country
Professors i heard spend more time working for a marketing firm than teaching they usally have assistants that do all the teaching who are from other countries. .
Nope not expedited this
The last 30 years was a blur, and I do not even recall when we started calling the students funding units, but Universities and colleges are Businesses. I can only speak intelligently about engineering, but the stuff we teach is almost the same across the board and any Canadian undergrad engineering school is on par with MIT. But the opportunity afforded to the MIT undergrad is due to their grad school and funding. MIT and top schools attract top professors and top research funding and do remarkably good work. The system is inherently corrupt because of money and the men that created these great institutions would be sad to see that that many great minds are being wasted because of monetary concerns.
I don't doubt that the quality of teaching is similar at most engineering schools - but the other big thing that sets a few top schools apart is the quality of the students themselves, and the benefits of large numbers of the most talented minds congregating in the same place.
@@alanlight7740 I suspect that would be true, but I can not find any data on that. Engineering already has the highest cut off in Canada and in the USA the average engineering undergrad IQ is 128 and 1/3 to 1/2 will not graduate. Even marks in the 90's will not guarantee you a spot in Waterloo engineering our top school and they look at other things as well. But many students looking to do grad studies already have in mind the professor they want and many chose their school for a specific departments expertise. MIT turns out some good work so it is not to far of a stretch that you can do good things with the brighter kids. It might be hyperbolic but in Canada all engineering grads are very close in competence en masse and the quality of grad work is more a function of your supervisors expertise.
@@alanlight7740 WRT to teaching ability a colleague applied for a math spot at a school not recognised as strong in math and they had over 1000 applications, so their is no shortage of qualified professors.
@@justbeyondthemath4559 - on the teaching side I can very well believe it. The brightest students pretty much teach themselves anyway so no big deal.
I agree that even the quality of lower tier engineers is pretty high, but the people I know in SIlicon Valley have found that at the very highest levels there are huge differences in productivity between the very best and the almost best engineers. They're not talking two or three times as productive, but more like fifty or one hundred times as productive. Get a handful of _those_ guys together in one room and amazing things happen.
@@alanlight7740 I have found the top few percent of colleagues and former students accomplish more than the majority as well. But I think Dr. Jordan Peterson has data that the Pareto distribution is across the board in most disciplines but likely more pronounced in medicine, physics and engineering to name a few.
Flashy, but silly. Thiel is seeking Maltese citizenship and with luck he'll succeed.
He’s one of the most brilliant gaslighters since the interview I saw with John Wayne Gacy.
Obviously a surgeon needs to get a degree but not all jobs require this. The working class and the places they work need to recognize other kinds of experience in place of college for certain kinds of jobs.
Is it obvious, though? Medical school suffers from the same artificial shortages as all the others, and the level of overwork (and I don't mean just studying hard) is tantamount to a hazing process. The hours that medical professionals have to put up with are not only unhealthy for practitioners, but also potentially dangerous for the patients. Ironic considering it's healthcare. In my opinion, there should be several pathways to becoming a physician, of which medical school would only be one.
Keep going with the Medieval church analogy and the necessity for reform only from without. Recall that identifying your Luther w his dozens of treatises is the just the first step. Following the analogy, the next step is the church sends out a professional hit squad to kill Luther, and he goes on the run. He survives because the church is slow to react, and Luther already has support in the population and some princes who are more than ready to toss the the Catholic Church of the time.
Thief had some truly interesting and informative things to say. If only the host would have let him!
Never really thought of the possibility that the universities can be inflating grades AND engaging in artificial scarcity at the same time. Nasty stuff, but it may also mean that a university could, in theory, admit more people without sacrificing educational quality.
Meritless diversity based appointments to senior positions in higher education has corrupted and regressed the education system from top to bottom.
You are SPOT ON ABOUT THE analogy with the CATHOLIC CHURCH!!! Don't let a little squirrel deter you.
This is an insult to the medieval church.
In some fields of science there is an opposition to free thinking in BOTH directions -- e.g. you can't easily confront the new agricultural science methods but you can't easily confront the organic methods either. Anyone can speak up but most people are so risk-averse that they just won't. There seems to be a trend in every part of society these days in which people are so risk-averse that they will not allow any movement, not even in small steps.
Effect of growing up in a safe and coddled society, you tend to be risk averse.
The guy is spot on about the universities.
Ayn Rand said it 50-60yrs ago...do not support your enemies...the declining value of a college education coupled with dismal choices of colleges that support our conservative values are enough reasons to actively search out alternate career choices or schools with lesser prestige but better curriculum
I absolutely want to meet Peter Thiel. I love his alternative prospective.
It’s not alternative
Agree. Solution: Step One - Eliminate student loans. Step Two: Enforce some discipline.
Elites saying elite education has no value is ridiculous.
Elite Education is not worth a lifetime of college debt. It’s the prestige of the elite university that drives its value, not the quality of the content. If even Elites are willing to admit that then you know the show has gone to far.
I think you can gain from university if you engage, which only the top 5% do and the others always pass with a reasonable mark. Once you’re in it’s very difficult to fail. Esp the rich, who can get through without reading a single book. Within 50 years I believe the whole education system will change with new technology - which might usher in more of a meritocracy instead of the present oligarchy.
High gpa has never translated into high a achievement. High mark does equal high skill or high value
this man is a great leader and visionary
A Great companion video for this , "The Critical Turn In Education | James Lindsay"
The Marxification of Education Workshop, Session 1
Lindsay explains in great detail the, who, what and why they are going after our children.
His analogy is amazing.
"Donor intent betrayed" Amen!
The damage done by people who wield exponentially more power than they could possible have a right to is the same evil in a university or in the business world.
I’d say your opinion applies to Thiel himself and many of the people in the room. Why so much frustration and anger directed at educational organizations? I’ll tell you why on his part - he’s an evangelical Christian nut job. He has money, and therefore power, and wields it towards those things that challenge his world view. If you don’t like formal education or certain colleges, don’t go there. Why so much grievance and anger? Because we have nothing left to collectively rail against. Not right now, at least.
There’s nothing like those who benefited from elite universities railing against them. It like they’re like humble-bragging, but humble-destroying. What’s more elite than elite? Those who want to wield power given by elites to destroy those elites. 😂 Great he’s referring to lynching. There’s nothing like a white elite conservative referring to that most hideous institution of mob rule and murder over black Americans.
@@brenkelly8163 I once read that part of governance downfall is the inability to find positions of power for all those graduating from elite institutions. Those that couldn’t find positions within the establishment formed counter organizations. This was posited to be part of human nature. I think there is something to that thought and something we are seeing playing out here and across America.
Agreed and that makes me cry
there are parents who pay $$$$25 million to have their kids attend a school like Harvard?? WHY i mean WHHHHHYYYYYYYY???
Nine Ivy league schools, with over 100B endowment..
Peter be on the beam!
By the way, Erasmus had a Protestant funeral.
Dated a girl from Stanford when I went to a state school, and didn't realize until years after that she wanted to go out with me BECAUSE I went to a normal state school! Didn't figure it out until years later, so a missed opportunity.
Hold on a second: US universities are liberal driven. Are you telling me that medieval church was liberal driven? Because something does not add up.
I don't know what he's talking about. Some of the best colleges in the US are the University of Cthulu and the College of Slaanesh.
I'd argue that comparing American Universities to the medieval church is actually an insult to the medieval church.
That would be a silly argument, but you're free to make it.
The medieval church at least had an actual positive effect on the day to day lives of ordinary people. for all the corruption at the top, they operated hospitals, schools, and provided care and hospitality. In the 1400s a peasant could travel from one end of Britian to another and always have a free place to stay the night. Amd if they were sick, there would always be a place to go that might not be able to do much to heal you but at least could comfort you. Britain by the late 1500s was perhaps more dynamic, but it was a much meaner place.
I am a Catholic and view any of the man added things as a corruption of the philosophy.
#1 get the Govt. out of the student loan business!!
They have to offer courses that the people with the funds to attend, can get the grades they need to graduate. People wont support institutions if their kids dont get a degree.
"Theres no way to change within, I think those are all complete fool's errands" - I'd apply that to the current state of the usa as well. So many efforts, yet all been futile on the wrong course usa is going.
It will take decades and the total loss of the reputation of American universities,
In progress
The early Church has held fast to it's beliefs through thick and thin. Sure, there has always been corruption in some places at sometimes. Men are weak but the Church Jesus built will last for eternity!
Yep. You can buy an indulgence, too.
If Christian universities can teach the unproven why can't every other university?
They have value bc of their relationships with the government and other aligned institutions
Hey, atleast Skull and Bones and the freemasons get new colleagues from Yale and Harvard.
Go to Yale or go to jail! 😂
Peter Thiel is not someone we should be listening to more than any random philosopher on any random street.
He is correct about the corruption of the universities. Woke and CRT world ignore the truth of the order of creation and human dignity. This attack on human existence brings disaster. However, I disagree with the analogy with the Catholic Church. The Church, though suffering in the Renaissance can only reform from the inside. St. Francis and St. Dominic and St. Ignatius of Loyola were part of that reform from within.
PULL THE PLUG ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
Who will teach your brats or your brats brats.
Lol. You funny
Some university programs solve problems. Some create problems.
Engineering, Math, Chemistry, Physics -- Teaches students to solve problems.
Gender Studies, Psychology -- Teaches students how to invent new social problems and diverts money from valid fields in hard science.
Yes the comments prove what you said.
University has become a grift. You trade large amounts of money for a piece of paper of accreditation. Observation of the average college student makes me realized the degree has little value making a person a viable asset in the open market. You may be better off giving an employer 20k in cash to higher you, that may be a better investment.
What is a Studio 54 Night Club?
An exclusive night club about 50 years ago where all the well-connected got together for sex, and which today is a sad parody of its inglorious past. Or something like that - I'm no expert on the subject. Look it up for yourself.
Entrepreneurial capitalism the problem. Along with people who exaggerate what they don't want, like or fear- as is so clear here. What do you actually want?
I'm a product of the American university system, and although it has problems, I think the analogy with medieval churches is strained..
The host is strong in pushing back with his agenda.
lol wut? Universities are worse by several orders of magnitude.
All value is subjective. Which is the problem.
Is that Ann coulter
the cathedral
Ivy League (and universities in general) are just ways of grouping together (and branding) above average, hard working and ambitious people.
You can be an above average, hard working and ambitious person and not go to these institutions. You won't get the brand mark though.
I sometimes disagree with you, but I'm deeply happy with this video. It's important to put truth out there.
Or you got that right that's the place you go to make the contacts and join the old boy Network.
Step one: stop all government funding, loan programs and loan guarantees. If you want a liberal education, read books and like it.
It’s true that the system of higher education is screwed, but the comparisons with the pre-Reformation Church is lazy and gratuitous. How about simple economics? There is just no way that the money + time invested in so many degrees in higher education can ever be repaid or justified. Then there are all the other indefensible aspects of the academy, such as their soi-disant status as intellectual bulwarks of society, not just sports money machines or diploma mills. And yet the institution continues to advance untenable arguments that most, if not all people should go to higher education, and push higher levels of certification and degrees into more basic levels of employment. If allowed, a Ph.D. Would eventually be required to install toilets.
This is the same Peter Thiel who supports Donald Trump and thinks Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger are senile for bad-mouthing cryptocurrency.
GEE,"SOUNDS LIKE-WHAT THE DEFINITION OF IS/IS"!WOW,THAT'S ONLY 25+YRS/THE START!!
It’s the teachers why was that not mentioned?
It's more the university administration that's the problem.
Why doesn’t anyone listen to this guy?
Go Dave Ramsey!
super based
The medieval church was awesome. Stay in your lane juhoo
Selling indulgences, the Inquistion, burning people at the stake, ruling people by fear... yeah, sounds wonderful.
@@starguy2718 yea it was. A lot less corrupt than the small hats Thiel is related to... but I am sure there is no connection there. He just forgot to mention that part.
Is it the guy that owns the PayPal? Perhaps he should clean up his own house first before telling others what to do. Don’t misunderstand me, I think most universities these days are totally corrupt, overpriced and basically a waste of time. But you cannot charge people $2500 for spreading “misinformation “ and tell others not to do it.
The creators of PayPal - including Peter Thiel and Elon Musk - sold it something like 20 years ago. They have had nothing to do with it since then.
Absolute
We tought by professors who graduated from your universities .
That should worry you...
25 million for a yale degree nice
Thiel is corrupt however.
Peter Thiel has the charming, Ted Bundy-seque quality of engagement. Peter also seems to be unreformable from the inside like Ted as well.
I guess if you start with the assumption that universities are bad, say it over and over and don't even provide any evidence as to why that is, or even define what you mean by bad then I should listen to you. I might agree with you but there are things university professors are good at research, being articulate and defending their findings. This video is little more than name calling.
This is so rich coming from a GAY REPUBLICAN now that's an oxymoron.
Because gay people can’t be fiscally conservative and instead must love inflation and deficits?
@@hdthor But he is GAY go look it and he is a big Republican donor to the party so yes being GAY you can fiscally conservative. Do you know who this man is.
What is he talking about! Christian nonsense! The analogy has so many holes.
So does your mom but you don't see me complaining!
Honestly. He just cherry picks a few pissy Ivy League examples. Why people listen to these fast talking rich imbeciles with 0 substance. I will Never understand.
Thiel is full of crap. He’s a billionaire who’s mad that gawker outed him and is trying to make the rest of us suffer. Universities provide an intrinsic and vital service by educating the public and creating knowledge. This whole argument is a canard to destroy what remains of our educational system.
@X vonPocalypse honestly there is merit to an honest critique of elite universities. Writing off universities or education as a concept is without merit. It’s retarded.
@X vonPocalypse Source? “just trust me, bro.” Where’s the evidence for that? Universities can be better, yes, but you guys and your oligarchs always talk in broad, non, specifics to appeal to the broader and banality loving public.
@X vonPocalypse this happens virtually never. Professors are not easily dismissed and students do not make staffing decisions. Almost no one has been attacked physically for wanting to speak at a college. Instead sensationalist lead and frankly gullibility have caused many non college students to believe these conditions exist. Pick up a book please.
@X vonPocalypse yeah banal sayings are full of nuance. How about none so blind as those who just make stuff up and form beliefs about the world with 0 evidence.
@X vonPocalypse picking one out of 1000s hardly supports what your saying. Also have you been to a university? 😂
College is an absolute racket.
Does that mean it's hardly corrupt at all?
A Few Minutes Latekh...
Oh, it's the *late* dark ages.
Or was the church corrupt during the whole mædevil period?
and how do you spell that7
should i go to uni to learn how to spell7
I hope indians watch this.
Another Billionaire with all kinds of "well-intended" solutions! (Bill Gates, Bloomberg, etc) Peter Thiel is convinced that his fortune gives him the right to tell us how to live our life, what is good or bad for the rest of us!
A little confusing, I’m afraid. Other people can express opinions and share ideas, but billionaires cannot? Please explain.
Medieval Church wasn't corrupt, individual members were, just like today or even less. We shouldn't judge the past from our distant perspective.