What can I learn from school that I cannot teach myself?

1. 70

   Admiral_Joraxxposted 13 years ago

   What can I learn from school that I cannot teach myself?
   
   A kid asked me this question, and I know there are a lot but, can you help me to come up with the best answer?

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2. 59

   Jonesy0311posted 13 years ago

   The simple answer is absolutely nothing. You can give yourself a college education at the library. The only thing you may learn in college is how to conduct research and work on group projects. K-12 teaches basically nothing. I learned more from leisure reading than I ever did in high school. I think college is a great idea, but only because you have to play the game if you want to succeed in life. Particularly in America, the education system (college included) is grossly ineffective. You might learn a few fun facts, but that's about it. Although, I would argue that it is very difficult to teach yourself math...Everything else is easy.

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3. 61

   Casey Strouseposted 13 years ago

   These days with resources like Wikipedia and MIT Open Courseware you can learn pretty much anything that your heart desires at a college level with enough time, motivation, and purpose.
   
   Also, you can always supplement online learning resources and books with in-person local tutors to really help you to master the material quickly.  Tutors and a stack of books is way cheaper than a university education and in many situations will provide the same results or better even.

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4. 0

   SmarttChickposted 13 years ago

   I think the biggest benefits of college/school is that you are compelled to interact and listen to viewpoints that are different (some MUCH different) than your own.
   
   When you teach yourself, you tend to do what we ALL do, and that is seek out and read things written by people that hold the same viewpoints and perspectives as you. This greatly limits our real ability to learn and be truly educated because how can you consider yourself to be well-informed unless you know the entire spectrum, and not just your own preferred piece of an issue or topic?

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