It's my take that the educational "experience" is the true "education." Truth be told, how many people who struggled through calculus, geometry, and even algebra have to use those skills on a daily basis? Even engineers and other math-heavy careers have tools that help them with the relatively complex formulae that are used. (I'm thinking specifically of the calculation of standard deviation which is a helluva lot easier to plug into Excel than it is to physically calculate using pencil and paper.)
Colleges and universities make you jump through hoops, compel you to learn the systems and work within those systems, require you to manage time and resources and otherwise make you learn to live on ones own being responsible in the process - all of these are the real education that brings value to a person's career and to their own way of getting things done.
Some - like Thor, for example - manage to educate themselves without the benefit of a classroom and textbooks and a sheepskin at the end of that process. That's great stuff, but there is a benefit in going through a long, protracted educational experience fully to conclusion. Thor qualifies because he's a Navy retiree.
Actual academic content is far less important than the other attributes I mentioned above -- unless, perhaps, you're going to become a university professor.
Far MORE important is to complete the task at hand and doing it to the standard that is set before you.
I agree to an extent........however, although the tools (for the math) have changed over the years, it is the
concept of the mathematics that becomes important the further down the educational road you go. Take it from someone that spent nine years collecting degrees in the hard sciences, even though you don't do differential equations on a daily basis in life or job, the understanding of the math that lies behind the science is essential to understanding the principles that present themselves as a result of the math.
Back in the mid-70's when I defended my dissertation in the arcane discipline then known as "Plasma Physics", I would have been hardpressed to explain or even comprehend the theories, concepts, and current thought in the field without a thorough understanding of the math that forms the "backbone" of the comprehension of what is happening, either in the lab, or out in the universe.
Even though you don't actually make the calculations, you understand how the individual that DID make them arrived at the conclusions that he/she did, empathetically. Without that basic understanding, a student would be completely lost in the more esoteric and advanced studies of the sciences........
To the extent that colleges and universities impart a secondary level of "discipline" on a student's thought processes, and work habits, I completely agree........just accomplishing the goal of completing the coursework to qualify for the degree(s), implies, at least to a real world employer that the student (or applicant) has the capability to at least show up reliably, and function at a reasonably productive level in a given field.
I also have met in my career a number of engineers and scientists that were largely "self taught", and in a couple of cases that stand out in my memory some were brilliant in their fields.......they are however......rare. In the real world, particularly here in the US, many companies rely on "credentialism" to make their technical hiring and promotional decisions, rather than "talent".........but one must also understand that in the corporate world, the folks that make those decisions, rarely have the knowledge to recognize real talent when they see it.......they simply cop out and rely on an applicant's CV.
On the subject of useless degrees, it is my opinion that a student that majors in subjects like: Art History, English Literature, Urban Studies, Women's Studies, Philosophy, Ancient Civilizations, Social Work, Political Science, et al. are basically wasting their time and money, if their goal is to stop at an undergrad degree, and hope to find a job. Some of these majors are useful if one is going to continue into graduate school, study Law, or ultimately teach these subjects in an academic environment. Otherwise, they are useless. They are, what we in the sciences used to refer to as the "Underwater Basketweaving" majors.......
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