Official Off-Topic Thread

[Atnas]

My brother's home schooled because he has autism. Brilliant, brilliant guy, nothing less than hundreds on his schoolwork now, but he has horrible social skills because of Asperger's Syndrome and sending him to a place like public school where he wouldn't be able to concentrate or satisfy his OCD would be plain dumb.

I think I would like home school, personally. But my mother and I have never gotten along well enough for that to be an option. Another thing is that if I were to be home schooled it would need to be a Catholic home school program. Even though I classify as agnostic I'm still put through the motions of a practicing Catholic, and school is just something I would like not to be touched by the religion.

I'm torn about art school. It's kind of up in the air for me. I'll decide when I get there. I'll probably take a year after I graduate High School and see where I end up. If I like where I wind up then I don't think I'll be heading to school. See, I've taught myself far more than public education has in pretty much all subjects, and I'm not particular to more school, art related or not. The only problem with it is that a degree in art is required, and I would really hate to not satisfy a criteria for a job I want simply because I did not go to school where much time and money would have been likely wasted.

[NaCl]

Higher education exists to teach people that don't have the fervent drive to teach themselves, generally

I think this is untrue for many science majors, mostly because of the equipment involved in doing serious research. For instance, without becoming part of acadamia, there is no way you can use a scanning electron microscope, or do x-ray crystallography. It's just not possible without the training and the money.

Also, it is not only a teachers charisma and intelligence that makes the class worthwhile. It is also the breadth and depth of material they will hold you accountable for, usually beyond what the book says. All of my chemistry classes have not been a march, chapter by chapter, through the book. The teachers have explained the sometimes complex material in an understandable way, and supplemented that with lab experiments that teach us to use equipment, and allow us to arrive at empirical conclusions about what we are learning.

I've never been to art school, so maybe that is the case there I can't say, but don't dismiss all education.

[ptoing]

Yeh indeed. I think you are generalising a bit here, Helm. For anything science that involves machines of some kind you wont be able to get very far on your own. A friend of mine studied semi-conductor stuff and they have the crystals the semiconductors are made from and those things cost shitloads, so one would have to be quite fortunate to pursue in that field without going to a university.

With something like art it is less problematic depending on what you wanna do. If you wanna do more involved printing type things stuff can get quite expensive as well (presses and such).

Things which are soley brainbased such as literature, languages and such, of course if you dedicate enough time and such into it you can learn just as much and good as someone going to a university.

[Helm]

Higher education exists to teach people that don't have the fervent drive to teach themselves, generally

Yes. I am generalizing. I wasn't even thinking about majoring in anything. I am thinking and referring to basic college courses that produce hopeless half-trained people that can't do things that enthusiastic amateurs in the same field consider the easiest things.

[ptoing]

Yes, there I agree on all bases. I have met people who studied graphic design for a few semesters and know way way less about photoshop than me. Or people who studied coding and can't hold a candle to people who do it as a hobby.

I think the main reason for this is that if you do something for a hobby you do it because you love it, so you will soak up information about it much more uninhibited.
If you just study something to, well study something that might make a buck at some point, the motivation is a different, less close to the heart one.

[Ben2theEdge]

Absolutely true.

Trying to get a degree in art was just meh. There are things to be learned but you'll have to wait tortuously for the rest of the class to catch up with you before you can be taught anything new. Or worse, I've had professors who saw that I was driven and decided that meant I didn't need any help. And yes, there were people in my classes who needed help with things much more basic than what I was trying to do. But then, what was I paying for? Asspats, basically. And if you're willing to pay for that, there's cheaper places to get it. (In all fairness, I had a few professors who saw that I was there for a reason and decided to be extra hard on me, and I SAVORED it)

School makes sense if you're an engineer or the like - you want to have that certification that speaks for you. But an artist's certification is his or her portfolio. It talks way louder than a degree. I suppose if one's heart is dead-set on an art degree you should at least find a school where everyone else is way better than you.

[ptoing]

Just reread parts of this thread again.

I like the Terminator films by Cameron, some, but that's pretty much it.

Abyss maybe? I really like that film and would say it's by far the best thing Cameron wrote and/or directed.
Strange Days I quite liked when I saw it as well, which he wrote, tho not directed.
And True Lies is quite good fun as well (tho that is a remake of the french film La Totale which I yet have to see).

[Darien]

most of the homeschooled kids I know are weird and clueless when it comes to social interaction.

I don't think I'd say most, but some certainly are incapable.  And how are you sure being in school provides a better social expreience?  I get most of my learning from classes with a lot of kids.  I'm in a shakespeare class the I'm performing in, and there are 20something kids in the class.  I take a lot of intellectual classes as well, which make the best IMHO out of a class experience.

Like I said, if parents choose to homeschool they ought to make sure their kids are getting a good amount of social interaction, and it sounds like your and many other's parents do.  I said most homeschooled people I know, I don't claim that was an accurate representation but just something parents ought to look out for (I would also say you should be concerned about your kids social interaction at a public school).  I said I would send my kids to public school because for me it is important to be exposed to many people of different backgrounds, not just religious but social classes as well--though of course that also depends greatly on the school.


As for the school for arts question, I am getting a degree in Creative Writing and I'm not fully content with my decision.  It has certainly helped me in several ways, and has perhaps exposed me to certain things I wouldn't have found on my own, but ultimately it's not very necessary.  One thing going to school for the arts does do, though, is give you an excuse to do nothing but work on your art for four or so years.  Once you get a full time job, etc, then it's really a test whether you will have the energy to stick with it--after fours years it of focusing on it it seems like it will be easier than if I jumped into right after high school.

[Shrike]

Darien:
I totally agree, I just have a bad habit of taking people's questions and using them as an excuse to ramble.    Sorry.  I agree with everything you said.

I have two stepbrothers that were public schooled, and they are brilliant, smart and successful people.  But the argument of Homeschooling vs. Public schooling comes up a lot, especially about the social thing. 

[NaCl]

ALERT: MS Paint has a 10x zoom. Click the bottom border of the zoom selection box to access it. Your world has been blown!