by Max Barry

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Region: Capitalist Paradise

Capitalist Producers wrote:You got that right. Most of today's institutes of "higher learning" are cesspools of progressive idealism more interested in teaching socialist garbage and what students should be thinking rather then how to think and real world knowledge.

Just for grins I practiced my Google-Fu. Check these out:

http://www.collegedropoutshalloffame.com/
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-successful-college-droputs-2013-9?op=1
http://www.businessinsider.com/top-100-entrepreneurs-who-made-millions-without-a-college-degree-2011-1
http://www.interesticle.com/entertainment/10-richest-people-who-did-not-finish-college/
http://www.fastcompany.com/3030631/hit-the-ground-running/10-famous-founders-who-didnt-graduate-from-college
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/23-famous-dropouts-who-turned-out-just-fine#.egWpdORdx
https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/successful-people-that-didnt-go-to-college/
http://elitedaily.com/news/business/100-top-entrepreneurs-succeeded-college-degree/

There are lots more pages of examples of people did not need the college to reach the top. People from Lincoln to Warren Buffet bagged the higher education route and did their own thing. Feel free to dig further if you feel the need. Clearly an ivy league diploma is not essential to success or even making the big time. It never has been. It is all about the person going for the gold. If it is not the right person, the gold cannot be reached. It doesn't matter how much education they have. It doesn't matter if they go for the small gold like a neighborhood bar or big time gold like Harpo Productions (Oprah). It all depends on who is driving the effort. At best, the school they went to may offer some short cuts to the goal, but in cannot give people what it takes to make the grade.

It is certainly true in my industry.

I don't have time to critique each entry in each list but the "Overman Warrior" produced a list full of athletes and entertainers who, to nobody's surprise, did not earn academic credentials. Yogi Berra and Christina Aguilera are featured. He is also qualifiably wrong about Page and Brin, Google's founders. He includes those who fail to complete a doctoral engineering thesis as "dropouts". Nobody on earth thinks that earning two degrees in a related field at Stanford equates to dropping out of school. Except "Overman Warrior".

Warren Buffett did not "bag" higher education: he earned both a B.Sc. and an M.S. in economics by the time he was 21. So you're also qualifiably wrong.

You introduce a new straw man, too: "...an ivy league diploma is not essential to success or even making the big time..." Nobody said that or at least I certainly didn't. But academic credentials are the primary driver for career and financial success. Here it is in visual form in case you don't want to read the documentation I provided above:

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-014-x/2011003/c-g/c-g01_2-eng.gif

From your lists and your examples it's likely you're confusing entrepreneurship with professionalism. You may be interested in this article:

http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/168527/talents-drive-entrepreneurial-success.aspx

Their argument is similar to yours but hones in on natural talent rather than "rigorous practice, self-motivation, and support". No matter how hard you trained or how well you regarded yourself you would never be able to achieve Yogi Berra's list of athletic achievements. But that hardly warrants the recommendation of avoiding a college education.

Even Yogi Berra would have a good chuckle at that one.

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