shadyminister,

I didn't compare myself to anyone in Foxy's post.

I most definitely am one of the country's most educated people.

Your problem is that you do not understand the difference between being educated and being vocationally trained.

I'm educated and you're vocationally trained. Get it?

What is an engineer? I wonder how many here are talking about the same thing when they write engineer. Is an engineer the bloke who builds or rebuilds engines? Is it the bloke who designs bridges or the layout for a factory producing engines? Is it the engineer running a ship?

I am an engineer. I sat in the classrooms, listened to all the lectures, some of them actually on an air craft carrier. At the end I got the bit of paper to say I had.

Then I went motor racing. I was taught how to mechanic an engine, by an enthusiastic amateur, my bit of paper gave me no idea when it came to mucking with oily bits.

That amateur was a sales tax adviser in his day job, but between us, his privately gained knowledge & ideas, & my book learning, we built the most successful racing engine ever seen in Oz.

Were we engineers, who can say, & there was certainly no money in it, but it made us very rich in experience & satisfaction, which is what it is all about really.

My guess is "Individual". There are doers and talkers. Speak quietly but carry a big stick. Kudos.

I suspect Mr Opinion is putting these comments forward to provoke some response- "ironic conceit". Maybe he is hoping to recreate a scene from "Pride and Prejudice" here on OLO.

But to be fair I don't think that Mr Opinion is saying that technical skills aren't important or even that they are ubiquitous.

He appears to be saying that it isn't the role of universities to teach technical or vocational skills. Obviously any required theoretical skills need to be taught somewhere. And an engineers theoretical knowledge isn't always sufficient to solve the problem.

Many a young engineer just as many a young lieutenant have come adrift by not respecting their senior technicians and sergeants advise.

Note- Mr Opinion did not say he was one of the most intelligent only one of the most educated. I think he might be playing on what it "means" to be educated.

I don't think Mr Opinion is saying that he is necessarily more "intelligent" than an eye doctor.

Also I suspect that Mr Opinion doesn't always follow the "university line"- if this is the case then he probably agrees with those who disagree with "academia propaganda".

There are those that believe that universities are to learn "how to think" not "what to think". This is an argument that is at least two hundred years old.

Canem Malum,

You have a very sharp mind.

So MR O, are you intelligent?

Mr O,

Surely you know that what you refer to as - "vocations"
also include arts and humanities as part
and parcel of their degrees.

Doctors for example study humanities ( as do other
vocations such as law, and architecture to name a few).

It helps students to develop
critical-thinking skills, understand the viewpoints of
others, and different cultures, foster a just conscience
build a capacity for empathy, and become wise about
emotions such as grief and loss.

These are all characteristics that define a good doctor,
lawyer, and so on.

In the US, The National Academy of Sciences Engineering
and Medicine released a report urging the
integration of STEM ( science, technology, engineering,
medicine) with the Arts and the Humanities.

The Journal of Medical Humanities emphasizes the importance of
humanities for doctors. Universities such as Stanford,
Northwestern Univ. of California, Kings College in London,
are only some who follow the integration of STEM with the
Arts and Humanities.

It should go without saying that you can be an excellent
communicator and critical thinker without a liberal arts
degree. Any good education, should sharpen these abilities
further. Any degree will give you very important generic
skills like being able to write, being able to present an
argument, research, problem-solve, teamwork, and become
familiar with technology. However the integration of STEM
with the Arts and Humanities is the path that most
universities follow today.