"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
...


Just love the disdain shown here so often for academic achievement.

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I don't notice any disdain for academic achievement here. What I
*do* notice is disdain exhibited by some for those who haven't pursued
a college degree for whatever reasons they may have. I've also
noticed that the more formal education some people have, the more they
are of the opinion that the acquisition of degrees and titles
automatically qualifies them as successful or somehow makes them
"superior".

I've known some people with enough advanced technical degrees and
titles to saturate
their business cards with ink but they were worthless in terms of
accomplishing much of anything.
Many of them simply became "professional paper givers" because they
spent most of their careers attending technical conventions and
seminars, giving papers on their latest research or brainfart. Some
of this was valuable and served a purpose within the technical
community but the real work of implementing the information or data
for a useful purpose was left to the grunt engineers and technicians.

Conversely, I've known people who barely made it out of high school
apply themselves in work endeavors with tenacity, making themselves
very valuable employees in the process.

Not knocking college. It's a valuable key to one's career, but it's
not the only key.