Do Most Members of ATS Have Any College Education?

reply to post by Aqualung2012


Tell her I'm a Mechanical Engineer graduated from Auburn University with a 3.4 out of 4.0 GPA so my degree on the wall says "cum laude".
I quite my job at the US army corps of engineers because of learning about all this stuff AND seeing MASSIVE fraud on the balance sheets after I finally got to looking at them instead of just the contract, plubming, air conditioning, fire sprinklers, associated drawings, and calling out all the dumb construction workers for bad work and stupid safety practices and being a project engineer for 6 months at the same time i was a Mechanical engineer for 3 and a software programmer for 2 months crunching years of scientific data using excel macros on a dredging project.
.
.
.

I WANNNANA JOB AGAIN!!!!!!!!

I'm done.

reply to post by Aqualung2012


Maybe you should get a new Fiance? If she's this critical of you, and your earning potential now. please don't breed with her.

Originally posted by chasingbrahman
reply to post by Aqualung2012

 

Wow. You're marrying a woman who believes that in order to use reason and logic, while employing a willingness to admit one's own error in an effort to learn and integrate new information, is something that is taught in college?

Not sure which college she attended, but I graduated from Syracuse with more than one idiot in the class. Today, matriculation is more an indicator of economic resources than well-demonstrated intellect. And I certainly hope she believes that she's about to marry an intelligent man.

Thanks for your reply. She has not attended college either, however she wants to get into the field of psychology. Of course there are idiots with degrees, which is just a bit off center from my own point. My point is that there ARE highly qualified people posting relevant responses to topics they actually know about. What with so many arm chair scientists on here, HER point was simply "oh all those people are just BSing, none of them know what they are talking about." The purpose of this thread is to offer evidence to the contrary.

Thanks again, and I dare not say how intelligent she feels I am..

Wow, I must say I am impressed.

I must make a few comments to follow through with my OP.

1. My fiance admits readily that a formal college education is not an immediate qualification for intelligence. She simply believes that most of the posters on ATS are talking about things they don't know about, so the thread was designed to show that there are many people with training in specific fields which are relevant to the topics they comment on. Not experts by any means, but certainly there are people more or less qualified by training of some kind to be "listened" to, as opposed to people who blindly piece things together and call it "science."

2. I personally share the larger view of "original intelligence" being most important. By this I mean: critical thinking, scientific method, pattern awareness, ability to widen ones worldview by pure experience. However, and this is important... Take a UFO picture for example. This photo can be more accurately assessed by one in training in photography/editing or even perhaps by a meteorologist than it could be by any person (no matter how critical a thinker) who just happens to think this or that. This point conjoins when we witness an individual WITH training in the relevant field, who ALSO possess strong critical thinking and and open yet decisive mind.

3. Of course there are college grads who are moronic, closed minded people. On the other hand, an education (college or not) which can be also explained as experience is required in many cases to believe what one is saying. Yes, anything can be learned on the internet... but nothing can be truly experienced on the internet. So in summary, it is relevant experience paired with a strong intelligence which makes for a good post/thread starter.

I appreciate everyone's comments, and again, I am personally amazed by this response. I have (with your help) proven myself and her correct in the most fair of ways. You ARE educated people, but even being so you all speak of "intelligence" over education, which is by far the most profound point on the subject.

Thank you all again, and if she can't budge... then maybe a few of your tokens of advice may need to be employed in the near future.

reply to post by Helixer

Originally posted by Helixer

It is difficult for you to accept that other people on ATS are educated to degree level and beyond.

It is not wise to cast a predisposed opinion of others, based solely on credentials, which have been printed onto a piece of paper.

It is far worse to base it off of a single online post, which was typed by a faceless being behind a keyboard.


reply to post by StealthyKat

Originally posted by StealthyKat

Really? You should read the entire thread instaed of "skimming" before you make such a comment. It's not very flattering to you.... and as the above poster said, comes off as rude.

I read it yesterday. Flattery has never been a goal of mine.

If it is rude to not blindly believe everything that a faceless person claims, then I suppose I may be.


[color=C4FFDC]Don't believe everything you read. It's not healthy.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


No, I don't think that either. I guess it was just the way you said it. Sometimes the written word doesn't come across the way you meant it I guess.

Originally posted by BrokenCircles
reply to post by Helixer

 

Originally posted by Helixer

It is difficult for you to accept that other people on ATS are educated to degree level and beyond.

It is not wise to cast a predisposed opinion of others, based solely on credentials, which have been printed onto a piece of paper.

But isn't what you are doing when you claim the comments on this thread are BS? I merely pointed out that you will not except the possibility that there are people on ATS that have very good qualifications from university. That is not a value judgement and I am not speculating like you.

Of all the people that comment on this thread, there is a greater probability that someone will have a university degree under their belt than no one. Wiki provide stats on the percentage of college graduates as 29.54%. That is roughly 3 in 10 individuals in the US having a degree. More than 10 individuals have commented on this thread.

en.wikipedia.org...

It is far worse to base it off of a single online post, which was typed by a faceless being behind a keyboard.

I don't simply and blindly accept people's comments. I regard comments from others according to my experiences, awareness of external facts, their use of language, gut feeling, whether accepting what they say has an impact on me and a whole host other logic and ethics based methods. You can describe it as an analytic approach as taught when studying for a BSc degree.

I am not commenting anymore on this thread.

Originally posted by Aqualung2012
The question I would like to pose is: Who does posses any certification, any degrees, and/or any education relevant to any of the items in the gamut of topics here on ATS?

Not everyone does well as a book learned student. Many can - read - memorize - pass a test.

But - can they think?

What I say is: "Intelligence is only as good as it can be applied". Knowledge is gathered information.

reply to post by Annee


Well said Annee....and very true!

Quoth the wizard:

Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the earth -- or slinks through slimy seas has a brain! From the rock-bound coast of Maine to the Sun.... oh - oh, no

ah - Well, be that as it may. Back where I come from we have universities, seats of great learning -- where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts -- and with no more brains than you have.... But! They have one thing you haven't got! A diploma!

Edit to add,

a diploma can mean that the applicant has the ability to follow through, and not drink so much beer that they fail out in less than four years. Generally, the sorts of boys and girls that can successfully navigate the collegiate environment through those 4 years and a few exams or research papers, can probably put in a good day's work for you, if you pay them properly.

That's about as much as you can hope for a diploma to represent.

reply to post by Helixer

Originally posted by Helixer

But isn't what you are doing when you claim the comments on this thread are BS?

At the moment, I cannot think of a more appropriate way to word this, so here it is:

[color=C8CF8A]Pull your degree out of your arse, and look at the surface. You're trying way too hard to find something that is not there, by digging deeper into nothing.

[color=808080]I never claimed that all of the comments in this thread are BS.

I merely pointed out that you will not [color=FFAB9E]except the possibility that there are people on ATS that have very good qualifications from university. That is not a value judgement and I am not speculating like you.

The only thing I do not [color=96FFEA]accept, is that someone is smarter than me, simply because they say they are. You can claim to have certifications in anything you choose, but that claim means nothing.


[color=80FF66]Look at your degree, and see if it can tell you which word should have been used in that sentence.
'[color=FFAB9E]Except'? or '[color=96FFEA]Accept'?

Of all the people that comment on this thread, there is a greater probability that someone will have a university degree under their belt than no one. Wiki provide stats on the percentage of college graduates as 29.54%. That is roughly 3 in 10 individuals in the US having a degree. More than 10 individuals have commented on this thread.

If you were as intelligent as you think you are, you would not be quoting stats from Wikipedia.

I don't simply and blindly accept people's comments.

You sure? Have you ever simply and blindly condemned someone, based off of a single comment? It is the same thing. You have now lashed out at me a couple of times, over a very short silly remark that took me about an entire 10 seconds to type.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


Listen, I am not interested in causing you offense. The truth is that I have university qualifications and I believe there are others on ATS that are even better qualified. You need to come to terms with the reality that there are people who are better educated than you.

I do know the difference between except and accept; I was careless when bashing out my response and should have read what I wrote. It would be silly to base your entire argument on my writing errors on a forum. My dissertation had a couple of spelling errors but no one picked up on it until I read it again several years later. My examiners didn't notice.

Once again, I mean you no offense and hope you take what I say in the spirit it is intended. You appear to be an intelligent man and I am sure you understand what I am saying.

reply to post by Helixer

Listen, I am not interested in causing you offense. The truth is that I have university qualifications and I believe there are others on ATS that are even better qualified. You need to come to terms with the reality that there are people who are better educated than you.

I see that the 'not being offensive' attitude was short-winded.
Two sentences later, and you're back to calling me a dumbass.

I do know the difference between except and accept; I was careless when bashing out my response and should have read what I wrote. It would be silly to base your entire argument on my writing errors on a forum.

I based nothing on your lil mix-up. My point was stated prior to that error. That just happened to be a generous way for you to reinforce it.

Once again, I mean you no offense and hope you take what I say in the spirit it is intended. You appear to be an intelligent man and I am sure you understand what I am saying.

Yeah, I do understand, but I don't think you understand what I'm saying.
Honestly, I don't think you have even made an attempt to.


Let's take a few steps back....

You need to come to terms with the reality that there are people who are better educated than you.

Why do you think that I am a dumbass?
Is it due to the fact that I did not come out and say, "I have a certificate that proves I'm not an idiot"?

....or is it because everything I type is no more than absurd gibberish?



P.S. What makes you believe that i don't already know I'm a dumbass?
Why would I need to 'come to terms' with it?

My ignorant point, is actually extremely simplistic:
[color=CEFFCC]I aint sayin' that there aint sum smart fellas on this here interwebz muchine. I wuz simplee sayin' that typin' a post witch clames you be smart, don't necessarily meen that you realie is.


[color=8A8A8A]People lie.

College educated?

Yes.

Relevant to the topics on ATS?

No.

reply to post by Aqualung2012


High school graduate after summer school in the last year.

Low GPA.

Does it matter when you are mad?




With Love,

Your Brother

reply to post by BrokenCircles


OK friend, good luck to you and I don't think you are a "dumb ass".

Some of the dumbest people I know are university educated.

Originally posted by BrokenCircles

The only thing I do not [color=96FFEA]accept, is that someone is smarter than me, simply because they say they are.

I'm smarter than you

Originally posted by muzzleflash
Yes I wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on a 'college education', at TTU.

I will let you in on a secret though, my greatest epiphany while I was there.

I would have been better off had I put all of that money in the stock market (this would have given me at least a chance of increasing my wealth rather than flushing it all down the drain).

I discovered that the library is the only place that focuses on pure academia, and that you can learn far more from a day at the library than from a week going to lectures in college courses.

Also, this is the kicker, the library is FREE.

True wealth is knowledge, and the library gives it away for free! Can you imagine that?
It's one of the best kept secrets in our civilization.

I have a college degree and I agree with this post. Like so much else in our culture, the whole college thing is hype. Unless you are going into a profession like law or medicine that requires it, the truth is you don't really learn that much and a lot of people have done a lot of things and made a lot of money without it. It's really just a way for a group of people to intimidate another group by making them think they lack something.

reply to post by Helixer

C'mon now. Don't stop, without first explaining this one:

Originally posted by Helixer

You need to come to terms with the reality that there are people who are better educated than you.

What caused you to believe that I do not already know that?

Why would I need to come to terms with it?

Are you capable of accepting the fact that the statement also applies to you?

reply to post by zazzafrazz

Maybe so. Maybe not. I do know that you are smarter than most of the people on this site though, because if you weren't, your post would have looked like this↓.

Originally posted by zazzafrazz

Originally posted by BrokenCircles

The only thing I do not [color=96FFEA]accept, is that someone is smarter than me, simply because they say they are.

I'm smarter than you

[color=FF970F]Second