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The Deficiency of Degrees

Posted By: Randy GageSeptember 28, 2016

Greetings once again from Prague. I came here to launch the Czech edition of Mad Genius and wanted to share some thoughts from my conversation with the crowd.

In part one, we discussed the first premise that holds people back from reaching the success they desire.  Now let’s explore the second premise that prevents many people in this part of the world (and some other areas) from creating wealth and other prosperity.

I believe there is too much emphasis placed on college degrees.

MBA programs are viewed almost with reverence here in Europe and many parts of Australasia and Africa.  Yet those programs offer very little practical education or training on how to be successful in actually running a business.  And what business knowledge is imparted – is focused too much on the aspect of being a good employee instead of a good entrepreneur.

We know that 40 percent of the world’s billionaires don’t have a college degree.  (And I’m planning to be the next one…)

Now to be fair, I think the idea of spending four years in a structured campus experiencing a broad-based education can be wonderful for a young person.  I sometime wish I would have made that opportunity and it’s great to see many taking advantage of it.  But like premise one, this is a situation where too many people are giving away their power and personal responsibility.

One of the most critical issues we have to deal with is relearning how to learn.  We have an education infrastructure built on creating worker drones in the collective and almost no emphasis on critical thinking skills.  If we were able to travel back to the 18th century, and bring back Immanuel Kant, Thomas Jefferson, or Adam Smith, there is one thing they would immediately recognize: our education system.

We kill kids’ creativity.  And instead of teaching them how to think, we teach them what to think.   And how to memorize facts, which any 8-year-old could look up in her smartphone.

The concept of a two- or four-year college experience is a good one.  But the colleges and universities must bring the curriculum into the present and do a better job of preparing people for the real world.

And most importantly, each person must take responsibility to supplement his or her learning.

If you’re like most people, you have core foundational beliefs about money, relationships, religion, or government that you developed in your childhood or teen years.  When is the last time you did any real critical thinking about any of them?  Do you know what your foundational premise was, and have you questioned that premise?

To truly manifest happiness and prosperity, be willing to ask those questions.  And be willing to take charge of your own learning process.

Next post, I’ll share more what we discussed here.  And if you want to get the Mad Genius book, click here, and for the Czech version, here.

- RG

13 comments on “The Deficiency of Degrees”

  1. Degrees are often about achieving social points. Just saying you're working on one of those expensive things is worth points. 
    You are clearly loving the Czechs- kindly hustle back when you are done and talk to your country. The first part of the presidential debate Tuesday was called Achieving Prosperity. And guess what they talked about- bringing back jobs, creating new jobs, and giving more to the people doing the jobs. They basically read your first post and ran in the opposite direction. Unbelievable.

  2. Napoleon Hill, even in his day did not have a lot of good things to say about formal education. You're right about our education system. It came out of the Industrial Revolution when they needed people to work in the factories. Mindless worker drones is correct. Recognizing what schooling could do to my kids, I introduced them to as many extracurricular activities as I could, with the aim for them to discover their talents, their weaknesses, their likes and dislikes. I wanted them to know themselves. I encouraged them whenever they told me about what they wanted to be when they grew up. It didn't matter what they told me. For me it was instinctual and also experiential because of the way my parents rejected my ideas. I remembered how I felt. So I made a decision that if I ever became a parent, that I wanted my kids to love what they would eventually do. It is no one's place to tell someone else what to do with their lives or that, "You'll never make money doing this!"

  3. Randy, if you don't want to be viewed as if you are Hitler, I would not post anything telling people to use critical thinking in regards to religion.  I have been fighting that battle for several years and most people view me as the spawn of Satan.  Religion is one of the few areas in most people's lives were gullibility is considered a virtue.  I have heard several preachers telling their sheep that the more you follow blindly (blind faith), the more pious you are. Most people would not consider being this credulous in any other aspect of their life (could you imagine someone finding a defendant guilty just because the prosecuting attorney told the jury to have blind faith in him that the defendant is guilty regardless of the evidence and facts of the case?).  When it comes to religion (and politics, for that matter) that kind of bat shit crazy stuff happens all the time.  On 2nd thought, you may happen all the time - there have been a lot of innocent people sent to prison.

  4. Well, with the average loan debt of $37,172 for a college graduate, one thing we can all agree on is that it is making a certain sector of the population wealthy - college professors, University system, student loan lenders, lobbyist for student loan lenders...

  5. The world needs all kinds of people. To. Do all kinds of work and service. Scientist, Pilots, Chefs, Doctors, Accountants and these talented people need an education, A College Degree. Training! We also need housekeepers and gardeners and agriculture-someone to do the labor the hard work. Some people do want just a job, others want to live comfortably but don't want to work, they prefer to live off everyone else. Professionals provide a service because we find a purpose that is rewarding and spiritually satisfying. I agree the Education system is flawed-can be improved. But the world will always be imperfect.

  6. We need to train our own ego's how to train "the ego" for success. It's a process of Unlearning "environmental" & sometimes "hereditary" programming, to learning NEW, empowering beliefs (premises) that serve us. I find the process can be enhanced with a super clear vision & persistence.
    One thing I found that was problematic, was I discovered the importance of "dis-identifying" with "the mind"; to get still frequently. It makes one "present" to the NOW moment.

    Great topic RG! Thanks

  7. RG, I couldn't agree more. I went to college on an academic scholarship 30 years ago and I STILL don't know what I learned. But, learning from Mad Geniuses like YOU, I learned how to become a multimillionaire through the effective use of leverage. I learned more about HOW to make money from YOU at the first Randy Gage seminar I attended in Los Angeles in 1998 than I learned in 4 years of college. Thanks again, Randy. You're the best!

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  • 13 comments on “The Deficiency of Degrees”

    1. Degrees are often about achieving social points. Just saying you're working on one of those expensive things is worth points. 
      You are clearly loving the Czechs- kindly hustle back when you are done and talk to your country. The first part of the presidential debate Tuesday was called Achieving Prosperity. And guess what they talked about- bringing back jobs, creating new jobs, and giving more to the people doing the jobs. They basically read your first post and ran in the opposite direction. Unbelievable.

    2. Napoleon Hill, even in his day did not have a lot of good things to say about formal education. You're right about our education system. It came out of the Industrial Revolution when they needed people to work in the factories. Mindless worker drones is correct. Recognizing what schooling could do to my kids, I introduced them to as many extracurricular activities as I could, with the aim for them to discover their talents, their weaknesses, their likes and dislikes. I wanted them to know themselves. I encouraged them whenever they told me about what they wanted to be when they grew up. It didn't matter what they told me. For me it was instinctual and also experiential because of the way my parents rejected my ideas. I remembered how I felt. So I made a decision that if I ever became a parent, that I wanted my kids to love what they would eventually do. It is no one's place to tell someone else what to do with their lives or that, "You'll never make money doing this!"

    3. Randy, if you don't want to be viewed as if you are Hitler, I would not post anything telling people to use critical thinking in regards to religion.  I have been fighting that battle for several years and most people view me as the spawn of Satan.  Religion is one of the few areas in most people's lives were gullibility is considered a virtue.  I have heard several preachers telling their sheep that the more you follow blindly (blind faith), the more pious you are. Most people would not consider being this credulous in any other aspect of their life (could you imagine someone finding a defendant guilty just because the prosecuting attorney told the jury to have blind faith in him that the defendant is guilty regardless of the evidence and facts of the case?).  When it comes to religion (and politics, for that matter) that kind of bat shit crazy stuff happens all the time.  On 2nd thought, you may happen all the time - there have been a lot of innocent people sent to prison.

    4. Well, with the average loan debt of $37,172 for a college graduate, one thing we can all agree on is that it is making a certain sector of the population wealthy - college professors, University system, student loan lenders, lobbyist for student loan lenders...

    5. The world needs all kinds of people. To. Do all kinds of work and service. Scientist, Pilots, Chefs, Doctors, Accountants and these talented people need an education, A College Degree. Training! We also need housekeepers and gardeners and agriculture-someone to do the labor the hard work. Some people do want just a job, others want to live comfortably but don't want to work, they prefer to live off everyone else. Professionals provide a service because we find a purpose that is rewarding and spiritually satisfying. I agree the Education system is flawed-can be improved. But the world will always be imperfect.

    6. We need to train our own ego's how to train "the ego" for success. It's a process of Unlearning "environmental" & sometimes "hereditary" programming, to learning NEW, empowering beliefs (premises) that serve us. I find the process can be enhanced with a super clear vision & persistence.
      One thing I found that was problematic, was I discovered the importance of "dis-identifying" with "the mind"; to get still frequently. It makes one "present" to the NOW moment.

      Great topic RG! Thanks

    7. RG, I couldn't agree more. I went to college on an academic scholarship 30 years ago and I STILL don't know what I learned. But, learning from Mad Geniuses like YOU, I learned how to become a multimillionaire through the effective use of leverage. I learned more about HOW to make money from YOU at the first Randy Gage seminar I attended in Los Angeles in 1998 than I learned in 4 years of college. Thanks again, Randy. You're the best!

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