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  • The shadow scholar

    http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/125329/

    The request came in by e-mail around 2 in the afternoon. It was from a previous customer, and she had urgent business. I quote her message here verbatim (if I had to put up with it, so should you): "You did me business ethics propsal for me I need propsal got approved pls can you will write me paper?"

    I've gotten pretty good at interpreting this kind of correspondence. The client had attached a document from her professor with details about the paper. She needed the first section in a week. Seventy-five pages.

    I told her no problem.

    It truly was no problem. In the past year, I've written roughly 5,000 pages of scholarly literature, most on very tight deadlines. But you won't find my name on a single paper.

    I've written toward a master's degree in cognitive psychology, a Ph.D. in sociology, and a handful of postgraduate credits in international diplomacy. I've worked on bachelor's degrees in hospitality, business administration, and accounting. I've written for courses in history, cinema, labor relations, pharmacology, theology, sports management, maritime security, airline services, sustainability, municipal budgeting, marketing, philosophy, ethics, Eastern religion, postmodern architecture, anthropology, literature, and public administration. I've attended three dozen online universities. I've completed 12 graduate theses of 50 pages or more. All for someone else.


    ...
    Nearly universal higher education is folly. It can never be near universial and if it is it will not be higher education. The to the sheer insanity of the system I'm having trouble even seeing this guy as unethical.


    Charles Murray's simple points on education are nowhere to be seen in public discourse not just in America but anywhere in the West:

    * Ability varies
    * Half the children are below average
    * Too many people are going to college
    * A countries future depends on how it educates the academically gifted
    Last edited by Heraclitus; November 16, 2010, 21:11.
    Modern man calls walking more quickly in the same direction down the same road “change.”
    The world, in the last three hundred years, has not changed except in that sense.
    The simple suggestion of a true change scandalizes and terrifies modern man. -Nicolás Gómez Dávila

  • #2
    What a despicable man.

    Comment


    • #3
      Are you worried about the gifted not getting a chance to receive an education? That's not an issue.

      Comment


      • #4
        No surprise that Hera has run away from his ridiculous statements in the other thread. Hera, you needn't feel threatened by stupid people getting advantages. You're one of them.
        “As a lifelong member of the Columbia Business School community, I adhere to the principles of truth, integrity, and respect. I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
        "Capitalism ho!"

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by gribbler View Post
          Are you worried about the gifted not getting a chance to receive an education? That's not an issue.
          I tough it was obvious that this where the four points Murray brings up in the book I linked too.

          I'm not worried about the gifted not receiving an education. I'm worried about the inflation of higher education and the waste this creates in both number of years of study and money.
          Last edited by Heraclitus; November 16, 2010, 22:08.
          Modern man calls walking more quickly in the same direction down the same road “change.”
          The world, in the last three hundred years, has not changed except in that sense.
          The simple suggestion of a true change scandalizes and terrifies modern man. -Nicolás Gómez Dávila

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by DaShi View Post
            No surprise that Hera has run away from his ridiculous statements in the other thread. Hera, you needn't feel threatened by stupid people getting advantages. You're one of them.
            Well that's a creative interpretation.

            DaShi I never claimed that I was unusually intelligent. Usually when I discuss issues like this I am not seeking or advocating for policies that would bring me personal gain. The goal is to have a society that functions well and to do the most good for the most people.

            Pushing average and below average people into student debt for worthless degrees is not optimal. Forcing people to prolong their education for years as postgrads so that they get a shot at sending the same kind of signals to employers that where once (in the age of more exclusive education) sent by having a college diploma is not optimal. Wasting so much of our resources trying to do the impossible with ideas that "anyone can do anything!" is not optimal.

            Everyone could be better off if we did a major reform of higher education along the lines for example Murray proposes.
            Last edited by Heraclitus; November 16, 2010, 21:11.
            Modern man calls walking more quickly in the same direction down the same road “change.”
            The world, in the last three hundred years, has not changed except in that sense.
            The simple suggestion of a true change scandalizes and terrifies modern man. -Nicolás Gómez Dávila

            Comment


            • #7
              Since when do average and below average kids get college degrees? What percentage of Americans have college degrees? 25%?

              I really doubt we have idiots going to school and getting degrees. I don't know if the 25% with degrees are the 75th percentile or higher but I think it's a pretty close approximation.
              "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
              "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

              Comment


              • #8
                To be fair, you should probably ask what percentage of Americans under 35 or so have college degrees. OTOH, a falsified bachelor's degree in hospitality doesn't sound much more useless than a real one.
                1011 1100
                Pyrebound--a free online serial fantasy novel

                Comment


                • #9
                  I also wonder if back when only a quarter of Americans had high school diplomas if there were people saying we were over-educated. Oh wait. There were. I don't know where to begin to search to corroborate this but I've seen articles and political cartoons from the turn of the century bemoaning the over-education of people.
                  "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
                  "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    With respect to the 1944 GI Bill which provided college education to vast numbers of veterans:

                    The other locus of opposition was more surprising: academia. With federal subsidies for education available to millions, the number of people going to college was bound to increase sharply. Many professors and college administrators were appalled. "Education is not a device for coping with mass unemployment," said Robert Maynard Hutchins, president of the University of Chicago. "Colleges and universities will find themselves converted into educational hobo jungles."
                    Hera, sounds like you're 70 years out of date and wrong.
                    "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
                    "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I'm going to have him write my Ecology (specializing in gender) thesis.

                      This is just efficiency in the market. Those that can write, should. Those that can't write should pay the aforementioned for their services. Instead of wasting their time writing, they should do lots of drugs and each other while they can get paid (or obtain loans) for it. If we cut off their education funding they'd have to become crack whores instead, and that segment of the labor force is ridiculously competitive already.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Heraclitus View Post
                        These are the points Murray brings up, I tough it was obvious that this where the for points Murray brings up in the book I linked too.

                        I'm not worried about the gifted not receiving an education. I'm worried about the inflation of higher education and the waste this creates in both number of years of study and money.
                        Why are you worried about this? Some getting a little debt and wasting a few years isn't the end of the world. If it doesn't pay off in terms of increased productivity, then they're paying for a luxury.

                        I'd be more concerned about frauds who get degrees they don't deserve by cheating.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I just don't see how 'below average' people are graduating college in droves. Make all the jokes you want about certain schools and certain majors and college being easy but seriously, how many below average intelligence people are walking around with degrees?

                          Honestly, if someone was truly dumb, I don't see them passing their courses.
                          "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
                          "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Al B. Sure! View Post
                            I just don't see how 'below average' people are graduating college in droves. Make all the jokes you want about certain schools and certain majors and college being easy but seriously, how many below average intelligence people are walking around with degrees?

                            Honestly, if someone was truly dumb, I don't see them passing their courses.
                            Maybe he's referring to affirmative action. He does seem to regard black people as "below average", after all...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by gribbler View Post
                              Maybe he's referring to affirmative action. He does seem to regard black people as "below average", after all...
                              This isn't about race. Though aiming for "diversity" does hurt educational standards too.
                              Modern man calls walking more quickly in the same direction down the same road “change.”
                              The world, in the last three hundred years, has not changed except in that sense.
                              The simple suggestion of a true change scandalizes and terrifies modern man. -Nicolás Gómez Dávila

                              Comment

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