How much education is too much?

The Sun King

Now I know you can never have TOO much education. Never stop learning and all that. Practically, however, how much is too much?

Most people feel the need to go for a degree. So much so that masters are becoming common.

Is the MA too much time spent at the books?
Hdip, PHD?

What do you think?

lazybones32

If you can utilise what you already know, you'll be doing good.

Joey Jo-Jo Junior

Like you said, there's no such thing as too much education.

OneArt

Nothing wrong with too much education. Even if it means just reading or doing part-time courses for your own self-improvement. It's when you're constantly taking out loans and grants for years and years without contributing anything that it becomes a problem (and also ends up looking bad on your CV).

People studying things to PhD levels is also necessary, more so in science, engineering and IT fields and to a certain extent various humanities subjects. History, language and sociology spring to mind as subjects that have necessary applications. Analysing history can help to understand what's going on today.

What I don't understand is people who study utterly pointless things up to such an advanced level. I met a guy who did his PhD in the depiction of corpses in Scottish literature between 1700 and 1900. All because the economy was bad so he decided to just stay in college.

alcaline

Learning the klingon language, what a waste.

2011

The Sun King wrote: »

Most people feel the need to go for a degree. So much so that masters are becoming common.

Is the MA too much time spent at the books?
Hdip, PHD?

What do you think?

I think you are confusing education with qualifications.

Fleawuss

When you confuse studying with doing.

Sunnyisland

I know nothing ...

Ghost Buster

The Sun King wrote: »

Now I know you can never have TOO much education. Never stop learning and all that. Practically, however, how much is too much?

Most people feel the need to go for a degree. So much so that masters are becoming common.

Is the MA too much time spent at the books?
Hdip, PHD?

What do you think?

I have never quite understood degrees and qualifications with which the only career path open with any prospect of a decent wage is to lecture and create more folk with degrees for whom.......you see where Im going
For example:
I guy i shared a flat with in my student days read/studied English in Trinity. This guy had a freaky Sheldon Cooper level intelligence. He could speed read Ulysses in a day and analyse it inside and out. He was also a chess master, into physics...just a mega brain.
His qualifications could give him a crack at working in a museum or a library or, as I said...... becoming a lecturer and creating clones of himself
Odd.

silverharp

it depends, I wouldnt advise someone to go into debt to do a "media" degree

Blue giant

realies wrote: »

I know nothing ...

Jon Snow?

Lirange

Sirius A wrote: »

Like you said, there's no such thing as too much education.

That's what Faust said. And Adam before him.

Fancy folk with yer fancy learnin.

The_Valeyard

alcaline wrote: »

Learning the klingon language, what a waste.

More use than Vulcanise, although it seems there is a correlation between that an Romulan

acemaster

learning learning learning

donegaLroad

Its all a bit of a waste if the person doesnt apply their knowledge in a practical way during their working life.. or break new ground through further research in their field of expertise.

Badly Drunk Boy

You can never learn too much, and you should never stop. However, you can spend too much time in places of learning getting an education for the sake of it. Things need to be done in the world...

The_Valeyard wrote: »

More use than Vulcanise, although it seems there is a correlation between that an Romulan

It's always good to know how to vulcanise rubber.

sonny.knowles

realies wrote: »

I know nothing ...

Knowing that you know f**k all is a good start. You are already ahead of the game.

Avatar MIA

We should never stop learning, whether through formal education or other means. Education doesn't necessarily need to be solely directed at employment or employment advancement. That's a very narrow view. Such education has a time and place of course.

To answer the OP, there is a possibility one can be seen to be over qualified for certain work positions. For example a fully qualified accountant, engineer applying for an entry level position.

The hiring person will think, this person will get bored or they are only using this position as a stepping stone and I'll be back hiring someone else in six months.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

The Sun King wrote: »

Now I know you can never have TOO much education. Never stop learning and all that. Practically, however, how much is too much?

Most people feel the need to go for a degree. So much so that masters are becoming common.

Is the MA too much time spent at the books?
Hdip, PHD?

What do you think?

How much streaking is too much?

How long is a piece of string?

HarryLime84

I don't think there's such a thing as too much education. A life spent studying is a life spent well as far as I'm concerned.

My only reservation, if I could call it that, is that you need to find a balance between studying/researching and getting out in the 'real' world.

For example, I'm the type of guy that reads academic articles on adrenaline junkies, whereas last week my sister actually went and jumped out of a plane. I think I'd like to be a little bit more like her.

Turtyturd

Masters level, even multiple masters, but Phd just seems like a waste in most cases to me.

2011

I have known a number "professional students" over the years. College life is all they know.
God help them if they ever have to live in the real world.

Crossubrigs

In many respects the best education you can get is often in the real world through learning your craft on the job.

Dughorm

Crossubrigs wrote: »

In many respects the best education you can get is often in the real world through learning your craft on the job.

This is so true - take the legal profession - is a PhD in law necessary if you want to be a *great* practising solicitor? - unlikely.

In itself a PhD isn't harmful, but the time could be better spent getting experience.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Dughorm wrote: »

This is so true - take the legal profession - is a PhD in law necessary if you want to be a *great* practising solicitor? - unlikely.

In itself a PhD isn't harmful, but the time could be better spent getting experience.

The only law students doing PhD's should be practicing solicitors and barristers who have a desire to get into lecturing law.

asherbassad

Ghost Buster wrote: »

I have never quite understood degrees and qualifications with which the only career path open with any prospect of a decent wage is to lecture and create more folk with degrees for whom.......you see where Im going
For example:
I guy i shared a flat with in my student days read/studied English in Trinity. This guy had a freaky Sheldon Cooper level intelligence. He could speed read Ulysses in a day and analyse it inside and out. He was also a chess master, into physics...just a mega brain.
His qualifications could give him a crack at working in a museum or a library or, as I said...... becoming a lecturer and creating clones of himself
Odd.

He was wasting his life because he could prove Fermat's enigma but delighted in literature? I hope the man meets a doe-eyed beauty who can naturally speak 8 languages, wears flip flops, plays the cello and has 11 kids with him.

what a contribution to the gene pool.

donegaLroad

donegaLroad wrote: »

Its all a bit of a waste if the person doesnt apply their knowledge in a practical way during their working life.. or break new ground through further research in their field of expertise.

Self actualisation is never a waste.

You should never stop learning, being curious, or educating yourself. There may be limited benefit to remaining in formal education beyond a certain point, that point depending on what you want to do with your life and what qualifications you require for it.

It's so individual and context-dependent that it's impossible to give a one-size-fits-all definitive answer.

HarryLime84

Ghost Buster wrote: »

I have never quite understood degrees and qualifications with which the only career path open with any prospect of a decent wage is to lecture and create more folk with degrees for whom.......you see where Im going
For example:
I guy i shared a flat with in my student days read/studied English in Trinity. This guy had a freaky Sheldon Cooper level intelligence. He could speed read Ulysses in a day and analyse it inside and out. He was also a chess master, into physics...just a mega brain.
His qualifications could give him a crack at working in a museum or a library or, as I said...... becoming a lecturer and creating clones of himself
Odd.

The world would be a much poorer place if we fell out of love with the arts. I'm glad there's people spending their lives studying those subjects and making clones of themselves.

222233

I think it depends on what degree you have to be honest. If you do a really specific course such as "nursing" you are then technically a qualified nurse and will potentially get a job in that field unless you choose to go further. Where as with an "arts" degree you may need to specialise if it's something specific you want. I personally went on because of my degree I was technically still unemployable without experience hours and a fancy title to stick onto it.

Kermit.de.frog

To be perfectly honest op it matters not a jot to me how many first class honors degrees, phd's or hdips someone has (as long as they have something). But I would have more respect for someone who worked in a cafe for 10 years than someone that has been in continuous education all that time. I think too much time in education can become a disadvantage to people seeking work.

And i'd say it closes people off from the world of work in the sense they would have little experience of a work environment.

Eugene Norman

HarryLime84 wrote: »

The world would be a much poorer place if we fell out of love with the arts. I'm glad there's people spending their lives studying those subjects and making clones of themselves.

Aren't they mostly "deconstructing" the art or literature created by actual artists or writers.

beks101

There's definitely no limit on education in terms of expanding your horizons and becoming a better-informed and less ignorant human being.

But I think perpetual studentdom without giving anything back to society or making practical use of your knowledge and skills is largely a waste of time.

I'm out of college about eight years now and by far my time in the workforce versus those four years have made me a more productive, socially aware and practical human being.

Learn a language, travel the world, ask questions, READ. You'll learn a lot more than sitting in a stuffy class room scribbling lecture notes will ever teach you.

The Sun King

I had a teacher years back and she used to say that it was an insult to your teachers to become a teacher yourself straight out of college. You have no life experience at 21 and it would be a process of kids teaching kids.

I imagine it's something similar for a PhD. A bit of an insult to consider yourself an expert in something if it's only from a completely theoretical perspective and you've avoided putting it to the test in a real life environment.

evolving_doors

This is how much is too much (go to 2:36)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoAe6LanFkg

B.A._Baracus

Since 2013 I went from having just second level education to getting a bachelor's degree and currently on a level 9 part time course.

Wanna know something? I just want a paid job so bad. Am currently on an internship too. So yes there is such a thing as too much education. You have to be earning at somepoint and I'm well beyond that point.

carzony

Education is a great thing but I think a lot of courses in Ireland are far to long. A level 7 is 3 years when it could easily be done in at least 1.

The_Valeyard

After my second masters, I was done.


Couldn't stay in and do more work. I had reached peak education for now. Was offered a Ph.d. course that was taught, which would have been better than pure research, but I just had enough, brain melting. So maybe in the future, I may go back, but that particular line of education, I was done.

Avatar MIA

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Was offered a Ph.d. course that was taught, which would have been better than pure research...

Off topic, but didn't think you could do a taught Ph.d.

GLaDOS

The Sun King wrote: »

I imagine it's something similar for a PhD. A bit of an insult to consider yourself an expert in something if it's only from a completely theoretical perspective and you've avoided putting it to the test in a real life environment.

Only speaking from a scientific perspective, but that's not how a PhD works at all. You're very much working on things from a practical point of view, it's not sitting there reading papers all day long.

The_Valeyard

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Off topic, but didn't think you could do a taught Ph.d.

Yes, in Trinity anyhow, very few in nature. This was over 7 years ago now. So not sure what it's like now.

Iwasfrozen

Kanye West brilliantly pokes fun at career students.

2011

carzony wrote: »

A level 7 is 3 years when it could easily be done in at least 1.

Taking that "logic" to its natural conclusion a level 8 could be completed in two years as many level 8's offer advanced entry to the final year to people that hold a level 7.

road_high

Education is no weight to carry but I think as you move along the cycle there should be more interaction with the workplace and using of what you're learning (or as I have experienced using very little of what I learned academically but developing a whole set of new work skills that I should been honing all along).
I've seen peers stay in education until they are circa 30 and I don't think that's a healthy situation i.e. 4 year Degree, 2 years MSc and then another 4/5 years doing a Phd. Then still starting at almost the same place as me at 24 after a Masters.

road_high

The_Valeyard wrote: »

After my second masters, I was done.


Couldn't stay in and do more work. I had reached peak education for now. Was offered a Ph.d. course that was taught, which would have been better than pure research, but I just had enough, brain melting. So maybe in the future, I may go back, but that particular line of education, I was done.

do they offer these? I thought the whole point was to learn and develop by yourself at that stage? i.e Manage your own research projects and ultimately write them up as a thesis.
I can see merit in a mix of taught/research but purely taught sounds like a waste of time to me.

osarusan

l<.....................................................................>l

That much.

Any more or less and you're a loser.

osarusan

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Off topic, but didn't think you could do a taught Ph.d.

Getting much more common.

Something like this: the first two years are taught, and then there is a big dissertation anyway.

emigrate2012

Teach them to read and write, bit of the aul maths.

Then off to the mines/sweatshop/farm, that'll keep the lil' ****ers in line.

road_high

carzony wrote: »

Education is a great thing but I think a lot of courses in Ireland are far to long. A level 7 is 3 years when it could easily be done in at least 1.

Totally agree. I defo think a year could have been shaved off my Bsc through more intense timetabling, longer terms and less filler subjects. A lot of these courses are numbers and funding and jobs for academia.

Avatar MIA

osarusan wrote: »

Getting much more common.

Something like this: the first two years are taught, and then there is a big dissertation anyway.

Ah, yeah - but there's still the self developed research element.

road_high

osarusan wrote: »

Getting much more common.

Something like this: the first two years are taught, and then there is a big dissertation anyway.

I don't see the point of those after already a 4 year Degree, 1/2 years Masters and then more taught stuff? Sounds like a cop out!

osarusan

road_high wrote: »

Sounds like a cop out!

Cop out of what?