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44 reviews for:
The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money
Bryan Caplan
3.74 AVERAGE
44 reviews for:
The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money
Bryan Caplan
3.74 AVERAGE
A blistering attack on education from a libertarian viewpoint. Argues extensively through extensive data that education, at best, improves life prospects due to signalling effects and not skill acquisition. So, his argument is that education as it stands now, might have value to individuals selfishly, but has negative value to the society as whole and has led to credential inflation without necessarily improving productivity. He strongly advocates for reduced education subsidies and greater thrust on vocational studies. The arguments are very well structured, though a bit repetitive and the treatment is a bit dry. But overall, challenges preconceptions we may have on education's role in the society.
I read it so you don't have to. Some useful information for the current debate topic, but it was hard to take this libertarian screed against education too seriously. And that was before I got to the chapter that calls for relaxed regulations on child labor.
There are definitely some compelling arguments presented as to why the existing education system is flawed, and I do buy his argument that college degrees are mainly there for signaling conformity and ability to tick certain boxes. But the author tries to do a cost benefit analysis that is ultimately, in my view, reductive. The intangible benefits of attending school are discussed very little and he attempts to convert those intangible things into definitive monetary amounts but it doesn't really work. Also lol he thinks the public education system should be taken away which is.... bad.
My rating is ignoring the ~20 pages of fake conversations added in to...make Caplan look good (?) and everything to do with the discussion relating to child-labor laws. I do not understand what the point of the former was and I genuinely felt second-hand embarrassment from it. For the latter, there is just way too much to delve into that is ignored in the book.
I agree with Caplan that a lot of education functions as signalling for employers. I very strongly disagree that education is the waste he makes it out to be. The subjects I disliked the most in school are ones I learned lessons from that I still think about today. And while I don't use, say, advanced calculus (which I loved!) on a daily basis, I have had to use it, and it's much easier to brush up on it than it is to figure it out from scratch (which would be required if one were to forego education as per Caplan's recommendations).
I think Caplan misses that not only is there credential inflation going on, but there is skill inflation happening too, and many skills that may be required are ones people can learn in school. Yet, Caplan fails to put the blame on employers for this. As an example, when I was looking for jobs for when I graduated in 2015, I found an engineering position that was listed as "entry-level", yet required a bachelors degree in engineering (masters preferred), with mandatory experience overseeing other people. Now, I truly hope no one applied for this job and had this experience while being paid entry-level wages, but if you, say, joined a Formula SAE club in university and became a team lead, you could spin that as having experience overseeing other people and actually get an entry-level position suitable for an entry-level worker.
Comparing the education budget to the military budget and calling the former "bloated" because it's bigger is such a rudimentary error it isn't even funny. Suffice it to say, you could be spending $1000 on rent and $950 on food on a monthly basis and only one of those things you may be overspending on.
Caplan also ignores many of the social aspects of going on to university/college. Sure, he briefly talks about marriage outcomes for women/men with bachelors/masters, but he ignores what are often great years in many people's lives. I, and many others, look back at university with fondness and seek to return, yet this isn't factored into any of the calculations. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent for this time (working doesn't even come close to the feeling of being in a lab with your three best friends at 2 a.m. hoping your robot will move when you turn it on and it actually working).
The good news is I had some ideas that I would hope would be covered and they were, so that's a plus in the end. I also thought the (brief) discussion about online learning (in particular, MOOCs) was interesting.
"instead of imagining we can live without guesswork, let us strive to guess with care."
"My refusal to meet uncertainty with reticence may horrify fellow academics. The real world, however, denies us the luxury of waiting for certainty."
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain
I agree with Caplan that a lot of education functions as signalling for employers. I very strongly disagree that education is the waste he makes it out to be. The subjects I disliked the most in school are ones I learned lessons from that I still think about today. And while I don't use, say, advanced calculus (which I loved!) on a daily basis, I have had to use it, and it's much easier to brush up on it than it is to figure it out from scratch (which would be required if one were to forego education as per Caplan's recommendations).
I think Caplan misses that not only is there credential inflation going on, but there is skill inflation happening too, and many skills that may be required are ones people can learn in school. Yet, Caplan fails to put the blame on employers for this. As an example, when I was looking for jobs for when I graduated in 2015, I found an engineering position that was listed as "entry-level", yet required a bachelors degree in engineering (masters preferred), with mandatory experience overseeing other people. Now, I truly hope no one applied for this job and had this experience while being paid entry-level wages, but if you, say, joined a Formula SAE club in university and became a team lead, you could spin that as having experience overseeing other people and actually get an entry-level position suitable for an entry-level worker.
Comparing the education budget to the military budget and calling the former "bloated" because it's bigger is such a rudimentary error it isn't even funny. Suffice it to say, you could be spending $1000 on rent and $950 on food on a monthly basis and only one of those things you may be overspending on.
Caplan also ignores many of the social aspects of going on to university/college. Sure, he briefly talks about marriage outcomes for women/men with bachelors/masters, but he ignores what are often great years in many people's lives. I, and many others, look back at university with fondness and seek to return, yet this isn't factored into any of the calculations. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent for this time (working doesn't even come close to the feeling of being in a lab with your three best friends at 2 a.m. hoping your robot will move when you turn it on and it actually working).
The good news is I had some ideas that I would hope would be covered and they were, so that's a plus in the end. I also thought the (brief) discussion about online learning (in particular, MOOCs) was interesting.
"instead of imagining we can live without guesswork, let us strive to guess with care."
"My refusal to meet uncertainty with reticence may horrify fellow academics. The real world, however, denies us the luxury of waiting for certainty."
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Even though I don't agree with all his points, I think this book deserves 5* for challenging the status quo and making us think twice about today's education systems.I, for one, got many new perspectives on what seemed to be "normal" in terms of gaining new skills, school attainment and social/public returns of education.
I already was aware of signalling and mostly agreed with Caplan's thesis beforehand. However, he writes in a very direct and usually convincing way.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Probably correct, almost certainly too long. Also see this thoughtful post by Sam Atis: https://atis.substack.com/p/the-case-against-public-intellectuals