Timeline for How should a jobless father advise his son when he refuses to study because of his educated jobless dad?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
45 events
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| Feb 7, 2019 at 21:31 | answer | added | Chris Sunami | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jan 26, 2016 at 17:13 | answer | added | Kiwizoom | timeline score: 0 | |
| Nov 13, 2015 at 5:42 | comment | added | Vandermonde | ... my main point that effort won't help but that lack thereof will hurt still holds true -- having them is not a deal-maker, not at all). I am talking about in general.) These failures (by traditional measures) with Ph.D.s and well-to-do folks who graduated only from high school if at all are not 'statistical outliers'; I and about a third of the people I know see them in the mirror every day, and to dismiss them as such is to assume everyone rolls sevens in the crapshoot of life and comes out even, that everything is exactly, unerringly, unnervingly average and every correlation perfect. | |
| Nov 13, 2015 at 5:41 | comment | added | Vandermonde | As is said many, many times below, input/investment/effort/education leads to better output/outcomes, on average. That I do not doubt in a strict mathematical sense. But given how all that effort raised one's chances of success (however one defines it) from 49.999999% to half, one would do well to put their effort into praying (however slight the hope it will influence something) their coin flip in life succeeds rather than into getting the 'better' coin. (I am not talking about those who aim for, say, NASA or bust. There, not having credentials is likely a deal-breaker (even though ... | |
| Nov 13, 2015 at 5:22 | comment | added | Vandermonde | I don't understand how so many here can deny his sentiment. This may not necessarily apply to this specific example given how no one keeps his job forever (unless the father's prospects are permanently wrecked, in which case it probably does apply), but to try again is to throw good money after bad when the influence of chance and the rest of the world outweighs your control a million to one, a googol to one, or astronomically so: worth it in theory, in the economic sense of rationality (to get an infinitesimally better result than you would have otherwise), but in practice?? No. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 8:49 | history | edited | user4576128 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Sep 1, 2015 at 19:11 | comment | added | Andrew Lewis | Education gives options, that's all. Less education = less options. | |
| Sep 1, 2015 at 16:33 | answer | added | DoubleDouble | timeline score: 1 | |
| Sep 1, 2015 at 16:10 | history | edited | user4576128 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Sep 1, 2015 at 15:44 | answer | added | Rob Grant | timeline score: 0 | |
| S Sep 1, 2015 at 7:07 | history | suggested | fjw | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Eliminate confusing "XXX"
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| Sep 1, 2015 at 6:53 | review | Suggested edits | |||
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| Sep 1, 2015 at 3:33 | comment | added | Emma Arbogast | Address your own heartbreak first. That is clouding your ability to find your true answer. | |
| Aug 31, 2015 at 15:27 | comment | added | Luaan | There are no guarantees in life - anyone who gives them to you is lying. Even if you do everything right, it's still possible to fail (at least temporarily) - unless you defined "doing right" as "succeeding", of course. Now, it may very well be that getting a college degree is a net waste; if you want any reasonable discussion, you have to work with something real and tangible, not just using empty statements like "education is good for you". What does college have to do with education, inherently? Does XXX think (critically!) his education was a net gain, or a net loss? | |
| Aug 31, 2015 at 8:36 | comment | added | Skrylar | It might be worth including references on both claims of "{degree,no degree} have been studied and are real." It's also not good enough just to show up to a college, like a lot of people suggest, but to find a study someone genuinely wants to learn (and there is a real market demand for) and a college which is capable of fulfilling that. Just "going to college" can result in paying a lot of money to a worthless school for a pointless degree, so I think the idea of going to the right school for the right reason is more important than just repeating that people should go. | |
| Aug 30, 2015 at 14:12 | comment | added | Brad | I'd add this as an answer but StackExchange thinks I don't have enough reputation even though I have over 100. Who knows if this comment will ever be read; thanks, StackExchange. Disclaimer: I am not a parent. But something the other answers miss... school is about more than just learning a trade. It's about getting used to hard work. We all have to do things that are no fun; but if your son chooses not to study, he'll never learn how to work hard when you don't want to - that's called "determination." This might be an answer that gets through, because it assumes he's right. | |
| Aug 30, 2015 at 12:19 | answer | added | gnasher729 | timeline score: 4 | |
| Aug 29, 2015 at 18:52 | answer | added | Dan Henderson | timeline score: 4 | |
| Aug 29, 2015 at 14:56 | vote | accept | user4576128 | ||
| Aug 29, 2015 at 14:43 | comment | added | ctokelly | It might also be worth considering the conversation's initial precepts: important though it is education is certainly not only an instrument for economic advancement. You might want to point to the cultural and intellectual benefits of education too. | |
| Aug 29, 2015 at 10:04 | comment | added | Patricia Shanahan | The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor the good jobs to the educated, but that's the way to bet. | |
| Aug 29, 2015 at 4:19 | comment | added | candied_orange | I've been jobless before I was educated and jobless after I was educated. I certainly prefer the later. Try answering the question honestly. What has education done for you? I might mean nothing to the kid but he asked. The key is to get the kid thinking about the future. Ask him what his plan is. Judging his choices will only create conflict. Talking about risks and rewards is a better conversation. Hard work at something he doesn't love is nothing but a curse. I'd sell college as a rare chance to explore possibilities. Also a great place to meet girls. | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 23:15 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackParenting/status/637403224882958336 | ||
| Aug 28, 2015 at 22:28 | answer | added | Kai Qing | timeline score: 1 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 21:31 | answer | added | Cort Ammon | timeline score: 7 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 21:25 | history | protected | anongoodnurse | ||
| Aug 28, 2015 at 21:21 | answer | added | Adam Davis | timeline score: 6 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 20:18 | comment | added | user17778 | Better to be educated when something unexpected happens, and have a better chance at getting back on your feet soon, than to have no education and never even have a chance to begin with. Chart by Demis above should be all anyone needs to see! | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 19:56 | comment | added | user9672 | "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." - Jean-Luc Picard | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 19:16 | comment | added | Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні | That logic is not sound. Bad things like losing a job happen, and are random occurrences which can't be predicted. However, the positive economic impact of obtaining a college degree has been studied and is real; likewise, the negative impact of not getting a college degree or earning a high school diploma have also been studied and are real. Father should point out that he's looking for a new job, and that son should continue to study hard. | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 18:55 | answer | added | Demis | timeline score: 22 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 18:01 | answer | added | Jared Smith | timeline score: 5 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 17:44 | answer | added | Irreverend Andrew Tappert | timeline score: 8 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 16:53 | comment | added | Ed Heal | The answer is that having more feathers in you cap means a bigger part of the job market is open to you and also means that you are potentially you can command better pay and conditions | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 15:12 | answer | added | the_lotus | timeline score: 10 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 14:47 | answer | added | Becuzz | timeline score: 75 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 14:29 | comment | added | A E | @xLeitix Pretty darn disappointing for the father too. Could the son be verbalising how the father feels about himself? | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 14:24 | comment | added | user1450877 | good point about using it as an excuse. | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 13:58 | comment | added | xLeitix | "because the logic is sound" I guess it would be important to internalize that this logic is not sound. It's the same kind of logic that makes climate change sceptics argue that there is no global warming because "it's cold today". There are basically no guarantees in life. First-hand experience of a single data point of a person for which education did not work out means close to nothing. I understand that this is disappointing for the son on a personal level, but it still remains super-flaky logic. (also, the son probably uses this as an excuse anyway) | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 13:46 | answer | added | user17767 | timeline score: 2 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 13:42 | answer | added | Acire | timeline score: 18 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 12:18 | answer | added | user1450877 | timeline score: 29 | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 9:48 | comment | added | user4576128 | It happened in a quarrel when XXX told his son to stop playing. | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 9:38 | comment | added | Aserre | Is it a taunt or is he genuinely concerned ? | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 8:24 | history | asked | user4576128 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |