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Scott Adams: "Forget art history and calculus. Most students need to learn how to run a business" [View All]

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alp227 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-10-11 03:50 PM
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Scott Adams: "Forget art history and calculus. Most students need to learn how to run a business"
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Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, contributed this opinion article to The Wall Street Journal: "How to Get a Real Education". (cached archive in case of expiration) Found via Drudge Retort.

I understand why the top students in America study physics, chemistry, calculus and classic literature. The kids in this brainy group are the future professors, scientists, thinkers and engineers who will propel civilization forward. But why do we make B students sit through these same classes? That's like trying to train your cat to do your taxes—a waste of time and money. Wouldn't it make more sense to teach B students something useful, like entrepreneurship?

I speak from experience because I majored in entrepreneurship at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. Technically, my major was economics. But the unsung advantage of attending a small college is that you can mold your experience any way you want.

There was a small business on our campus called The Coffee House. It served beer and snacks, and featured live entertainment. It was managed by students, and it was a money-losing mess, subsidized by the college. I thought I could make a difference, so I applied for an opening as the so-called Minister of Finance. I landed the job, thanks to my impressive interviewing skills, my can-do attitude and the fact that everyone else in the solar system had more interesting plans.


One of the accompanying cartoons:

And Adams doesn't address how American students will be able to keep up with the Chinese and Indian and European students who are getting ahead of them in scientific/mathematic knowledge that he considers a "waste of time" for students who should be learning business skills. Does he not realize that science is a very employable field? (I'm speaking as a computer engineering student who's also taken several general ed classes including on in theatre appreciation right now.)
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