Charles Cooke (the NRO guy, not the pollster), on the effects of treating a college degree as a magical spell component*:
On Thursday, I met a guy down in Zuccotti Park. He speaks six languages, but he has nothing useful to say in any of them. He is the movement’s perfect spokesman.
Indeed.
Moe Lane
*The idea being, a college degree will magically get you a job. Which would be great, IF MAGIC WORKED. Hmm. Somebody should do a survey of the current unemployment rates among ceremonial magicians…
I agree. I have a college and it has done me no world of good. It is not worth the paper it’s printed on.
It’s cargo cult economics, as you’ve said. People with degrees tend to have better jobs, therefore, if everyone has a degree, everyone will have a better job.
I dunno. Mine’s been moderately useful, but I studied computer science and work as a software engineer.
It’s opened a door, once or twice, though it certainly hasn’t been “magical”.
Somewhat off topic, but the market for magicians here is Las Vegas is pretty tough. One guy tried to self-finance his show recently, hiring a theater etc. He had to give up after only a few weeks, and stiffed all of his non-union performers. The union members got paid, of course.
On topic – Back when I was hired as a “programmer” in the late 70s, employers used aptitude tests to screen for those that could do the job. Thanks to disparate outcome lawsuits, aptitude tests disappeared and were replaced by requiring a credential – a degree, preferably in computer science.