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Is Education Really Necessary?🤓 🤔 😎
Hey Product Hunters! 👋
I had a small talk with my friend this morning and we were discussing - is education really necessary for everyone, or are real-world skills more important? 🤔
I mean, for entrepreneurs, it seems like having practical, hands-on experience can be a game-changer. You don't really need a degree to launch a startup or manage a business, right?🧑💻
Skills like networking, negotiation, and even a bit of hustle might take you further than a stack of textbooks. 😎
But then, what about professions like doctors or teachers?👩⚕️ 👨🏫
I definitely don't want my surgeon learning on the job.🥹
For these careers, a solid educational foundation is non-negotiable. They need the rigorous training and knowledge that only a structured educational program can provide. 📚
Maybe, both groups actually need a bit of both – education and real skills? 🤷♂️
So, what do you all think? Is traditional education still the way to go, or is it time we rethink its importance in today's world?
Let's discuss! 👇
Best,
BorisMoris
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Irena Korshakova
I think the question about the importance of education and practical skills does not have an unambiguous answer. It all depends on the context and the specific field of work. For entrepreneurs and many creative professions, real-life skills may be more valuable. However, for specialized professions with responsibility for human health and safety (medicine, engineering, education), formal education remains critical. The ideal path may lie in a combination of both approaches, where education and practice complement each other, ensuring the all-round development of the individual and the professional.
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@ireeen I think you are right Irene, we need to find equilibrium in both aspect to become fully effective! Also, you never know which skills can help you in your life regardless of the profession.
Education is a threshold and if you don't have an education you may not be able to cross the threshold to get what you want.
@jackeye That's a good point actually, Olie. It's like first step to show yourself and everybody that you can do smth or you have to provide practical skill at the level where you can provide really good results!
@vladimir_tambovtsev Thats true, I think that for programmers it's not so important actually. Real skills are better in this case.
@elaineluyi Sometimes, when talking to business people who have never heard of classical literature or don't know basic historical facts, I begin to think that a classical education is essential.
If you do not know what to do, take up general education, if you know what to do but do not know enough then take specialized education and if you know what to do and how to do it, then go ahead and do it.
@kavilrawat Wow, sounds like good motivation speech! Actually, I think that you are right, but how do you know what to do and how to do at 18 y.o. without real experience?
Nowadays I think it makes no big difference that only for some technical or medical sciences it is important, but for entrepreneurship or business the most important thing is the feeling or experience. Notice how many entrepreneurs or creators of big unicorn projects have dropped out of university, plus there is a huge amount of self-education materials available now. In the age of artificial intelligence, we have a personal teacher-guide for any science. It's a matter of interest and immersion. I also believe that MBA is an overrated type of education. Only if it's done for the sake of a badge.
@sugar_free_app I agree at a lot of points with you, but still I see that not all of the founders have dropped university. Especially technical one are graduated in a lot of cases. I agree about MBA and I think it's more about for Top managers, rather than founders and businessmen.
@boris_moris44 Sure, i mean the same. As for technical or application specialists, they definitely need a university degree. But for economists, in my opinion, very different qualities are important.
Education is highly important. Not especially for the knowledge (except for some specific jobs of course), but it structures your brain and the way you think and resonate
@arthur_leclercq The more neural connections we have in our brains the smarter we are and the reason for their appearance is not so important, rather the fact of their development itself
@boris_moris44 I did not mention intelligence, and I not talking about that. (Talking here about school education, I might misunderstood the debate then), but to develop my thoughts, education is not developing intelligence, but developing the way you think and trains you to use your brain (logic, analysis…) which without school education is achievable of course but way harder
Boris, hi. I’ll tell you as a person who has several educations. The traditional system just broke away from the practical part of life. And if the practice at once was concomitant with the theory, then we would have the perfect combo. Of course, for such jobs as a doctor, perhaps it should be introduced later, but no one interferes with the use of simulators for training. In general, the essence, I think, is clear. The same applies to entrepreneurs. just their path to success would be shorter and faster
@evgeniy_vl I absolutely agree with you and understand you, as I also have several educations. We need more practice in the university for non tech or science students.
there are certain skills which are just harder to be learned outside of university. Think of aerospace or mechanical engineering, while you can do it on your own, universities give you many resources and people you wouldn’t normally get access to.
If by education you mean an mba, then it’s a waste of time.
@mariusmanolachi I agree with the first part, but why do you think that MBA is a waste of time?
@boris_moris44 because you have many ways in which you can get that same knowledge in the real world, faster. I had a mentor who went to Oxford to learn business and administration and he still believes it was a total waste of time, he learned much more from launching and scaling successful startups.
And I don’t want to build my entire argument around a single case study. Look around you, and you’ll see that most people who run the most influential companies are engineers and not business people. Every solo-founder was an engineer first and then learned how to do business.
@mariusmanolachi That's a really good point about engineers. That's why we need education, and yes, agree, business is more about experience than education.
I think it depends on the field of your study, but using only traditional education is not enough nowadays.
In my opinion, it depends on your business necessity. It is just impossible to run a fintech startup without academic knowledge in economics.
I particularly believe that education is fundamental no matter what. Maybe 1% of the population won't need it to succeed, but most will. We can't let exceptions define the rule.
@vitor_seabra Wow, what a good point, Vitor. I absolutely agree that exceptions can't define the rule. Besides, all entrepreneurs say that education helped them a lot, even those who dropped out of university. It's a bit like start ups industry, we only hear about the success stories and we can't even imagine the number of failures. Here we have the same, 10 unicorn owners suspended (not stopped) their education and we talk about them, but I don't think that all top managers and other founders and etc. don't have an education.
In my opinion, as long as it's helpful in your future career and work life, yes. Otherwise, it'll just be as waste of precious years of life.
in my opinion, It feels that having higher eduction is essential self-development step. However , always depends on your goals.
@copyfrog It truly depends on your goals. In my opinion, higher education is less about gaining knowledge and more about building connections. Attending the right university can open up a world of opportunities for you.
I would agree that for entrepreneurs it is not about prof education, but more about the idea, the number of attempts, networking, pitching skills. Of course, hard and soft skills basis as well as IQ and EQ should definitely be a plus, but e.g.,MBA might become a waste of time and money.
And sure it is another story for doctors, technicians..
@natalie_ermishina That's a good point. I think education is more like a foundation for our future development, even for a good businessman it could be a very good advantage.
In any case, having an education is your safety cushion. It gives you more opportunities in life if you are an ordinary person. The question is whether you are ready to spend a few years on it.
Why not a blend of brain and brawn? Let's build a world where textbooks meet toolkits and degrees dance with doing! 🎓💼🚀
I believe that traditional educational institutions are important despite any new trends
@new_user___134202406cb6d3a975acabc That's a good statement, Valeria. I think we need to know how to combine classic education with modern skills!
@deyvidas_b What a beautiful statement, Deyvidas. I TOTALLY AGREE, we need to study and practice, not just study and forget. That's why I think universities should give more opportunities to practice, like more internships and so on.