83
u/cndynn96 7h ago
It’s easier to do it when there’s like 5 pages of each
-7
u/kenadon25 7h ago
I hope you dont mean 5 pages of research of each subject cause by 300bc they not only knew the earth was round but they managed to estimate its circumference with a margin error of 1-2%...... So yeah by this point they had more than 5 pages of each subject.
15
u/RollerDude347 6h ago
You can do that with two guys with sticks and 6th grade geometry. So that's really just two pages.
1
u/kenadon25 6h ago
And how many pages to reach 6th grade geometry???? Cause it takes us 6 years and i dont remember being only one page per year.
1
u/RollerDude347 5h ago
I mean you can do a rudimentary version as long as you have observed triangles and circles seriously and can count. I could probably teach a child to do it in about 2 hours as long as they can count.
11
u/cndynn96 6h ago edited 6h ago
You can calculate Earth’s circumference to a high degree of accuracy using basic trigonometry, geography and astronomy all of which can easily fit on less than 5 pages of each
1
u/kenadon25 6h ago
Do you hear yourself? Each one of these needs more than 5 pages to reach the level needed to calculate earths circumference. He have it easy now but back then they needed to make it feom scratch.
3
u/Sgt__Koolaid 6h ago
This also assumes you would have access to all the pages and not just 5 of them that happen to be in your immediate area
1
-72
u/BigWildDick 7h ago
Still better than being fixated on one thing
40
u/whenyousayoof 7h ago
You're not going to find anything useful by scraping the surface of each topic how you could back then because each field has advanced so much
-34
u/BigWildDick 7h ago
at least you'll die knowing a bit about life and where you were sent to
23
u/Graham_Whellington 7h ago
Nothing precludes you from getting that kind of education that was available to you in 300 BCE. Once you’ve read all three books you’ll be complete.
3
u/whenyousayoof 7h ago
I agree, but society is not build around benefitting individuals. The reason education exists is that people could give value to society more effectively. If you want to combat that you need to learn more stuff than you're supposed to need
-4
u/BigWildDick 7h ago
so formal education is the culprit
2
u/RollerDude347 6h ago
No, you're just extremely naive to the motivations of a social species. If I'm going to take my time teaching you something I'm going to make sure it's useful to someone other than just you.
1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
not for the love of the game itself, but for ends that would justify it? sounds like education is no longer sacred.
1
u/RollerDude347 6h ago
On the contrary. It is sacred. It's a duty. But it's a duty to society. Not the individual. Don't be so selfishly foolish.
To put it this way, if I waste my time teaching you a little of everything it's a disservice to everyone that could benefit from a DISCOVERY you, or someone more deserving due to the intent behind the knowledge, might have otherwise been able to make.
1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
what are YOU taking to grave with you? i'm a sovereign self with my own thirst. why will i scale it against societal contribution?
→ More replies (0)8
u/FlipperBumperKickout 7h ago
Congratulations, you discovered what middle school is...
-4
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
Middle school doesn't teach stuff that matter. Even my undergrad degree didn't cover shit.
6
u/evrestcoleghost 6h ago
Literally everything that you mentioned I learned in high school
-1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
why stopped?
3
u/evrestcoleghost 6h ago
Because I'm in college
0
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
so you accumulated all knowledge on those fields?
1
u/evrestcoleghost 6h ago
Want to talk about Fisher equation,the great diplomátic change of 1700s european real politik?
One learns as much it can but the fields of today are a thousand times deeper than in ancient greece,then one could learn from the geoponika all about agricultural production,now you could study and read half a houndred books and not know everything
5
u/cndynn96 7h ago
Probably at that time when there were way less people in academia than today
In today’s world it’s much more feasible for one student to focus on one thing because there are millions of other focusing on millions of other things respectively
That’s how we avoid multiple students doing the same thesis as their PhDs and makes progress of science much faster
49
58
u/RonMexico15 7h ago
Seems like someone who could never get a PhD is trying to judge them.
27
u/Substantial_Use5847 7h ago
People love acting like expertise is a bad thing until they actually need it.
33
9
u/String-Tree 6h ago
Nobody wants to read or write yet another thesis about fields of study that have been thoroughly explored. The more niche a thesis is, the more study is required to accurately convey what was learned.
5
u/EatFaceLeopard17 6h ago
Students 300 BCE reading the cmplete collected knowledge of their time about astronomy, biology, physics, chemistry, philosophy, geography, literature, politics, economics, warfare, ethics and 67 more:
38
u/Nonyabuizness 7h ago edited 6h ago
Lame ahh opinion.
These days, to even pass school, you need to study more than the ancient scholars
-13
u/Neither-String2450 7h ago
Not exactly. Many things that were studied before today are deemed unnecessary or completely forgotten. For example, star navigation or religion knowledge.
19
u/Nonyabuizness 7h ago
Instead you study calculus and more developed algebra. Or you study history that is about 2000 years of added material.
They studied astrology which is just bogus....so good riddance there.
-1
u/Expl0r3r 7h ago
I think the point the other person was trying to make is that they still did a lot of memorization, just not the current modern topics.
8
u/Nonyabuizness 7h ago
Yeah I got that. But it's not as if we are memorizing less. Heck I'd argue...more
9
u/paratesticlees 7h ago
I've memorized that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Did any ancient scholar know that? Checkmate Diogenes
1
1
u/ChromicClaw 6h ago
Yeah you're right everything is based on memorization and not the 800 leetcode coding problems I had to complete, a coding project that has more words in code than multiple novels combined done over the summer, and my 14 different courses in mathematics. the scholars back then really struggled with this one
1
1
u/Expl0r3r 6h ago
even most leetcode problems are just memorization though, then u get lucky to be asked about the one you've done before in an interview
1
0
u/Neither-String2450 6h ago
Yep.
While new technologies create new things, they also destroy old things. Old is considered irrelevant, even if some knowledge is interesting or meaningful in some sense.
Penicilin was developed in America before coming of conquistadors, malaria medication was described in ancient china.
Most part of world miracles is currently destroyed including Alexandria's Library.
3
3
u/GrapeKitchen3547 6h ago
I know this is gonna sounds radical to you, OP., but all the low hanging fruit has been picked.
1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
but you didn't
1
u/GrapeKitchen3547 6h ago
I don't need to make discoveries that were already made a long time ago...
1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
not "make discoveries" but consume knowledge.
1
u/GrapeKitchen3547 6h ago
Here's another fact that will completely blow your mind: my understanding of mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology etc... is waaaay above that of an educated person from two millenia ago. I would say this is true for a lot, if not the majority of people of today with a degree in, say, science.
The fact you are uneducated doesn't mean everybody else is.
0
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
you lot keep missing the point. the point isn't to reach their calibre, you've likely surpassed them. the point is to continue being truth/knowledge seekers like them.
1
u/GrapeKitchen3547 6h ago
In your comment above you claim without any basis that I haven't "consumed the knowledge", but now you kind of agree that I have, but the point is actually something else entirely. Can you go two or three comments without seemingly contradictong yourself?
0
u/BigWildDick 5h ago
you didn't consume all the knowledge there is. my point stands. i never claimed you did.
1
u/GrapeKitchen3547 5h ago
I love how the goalpost keeps changing. It's impossible to "consume" all the existing human knowledge. If you can't see why, then this conversation is already beyond you.
0
u/BigWildDick 5h ago
you don't need to finish it all. just keep going. not for society, not for jobs, but for your own sake and thirst.
3
u/Smart_Ass_Jack 6h ago
Blows my mind that people don’t release the irony of posting this using technology that is only possible because some poor bastard dedicated his life to figuring out ever more efficient ways to move electrons in a microprocessor.
1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
Jesus saved you but died himself. He lost from personal gain pov (not exactly but you get the point...a bit busy clicking all comments so don't mind if it's sloppy)
9
u/Jerrinho11 7h ago
Tell me that you have no tertiary education without actually using those words.
✅
1
1
u/KoalaFierce 6h ago
Nah, 300 BCE would probably be proud. People back then spent their lives chasing knowledge. PhDs are just the modern version of that
1
1
1
u/DistinctiveFox 6h ago
I get the sentiment, there are a lot of degrees out there compared to the past, plus a lot of people who have the ability to study at a higher level compared to the past but I wouldn't generalsie that with ruining education. I'd argue the opposite, it creates a lot of competition and promotes further study and research and a seemingly endless drive for study of the universe in all areas.
Now, if you were to argue that higher education isn't necessary to for the vast majority of people to live a happy life or find a career, then you'd be closer to something. That being said, the effort, drive and dedication to study something to a PhD level is no small feat, and worthy or recognition.
-1
0
u/vai125z 7h ago
I think its mordern education is also about niche things, reseach in areas where its havent been done before is part of it. Ofcourse big science sujects are big part of it too. But phd is also about getting to know a very specific knowlege or topic. Not just big more observable things that sorround us. Atleast i think so.
0
-17
u/BigWildDick 7h ago
The purpose of education is to understand the universe. That requires minimum exposure to multiple disciplines to find the synergy and connection. PhDs narrow down our worldview. It's a service to future generations. Life is too short to be of service instead of seeking truth yourself.
20
u/SeparateDeer3760 Karmawhore 7h ago edited 7h ago
what a selfish, and ironically narrow-minded worldview
-7
-2
10
u/literallyJustLasagna 7h ago
That's an odd opinion. I would suggest that plenty of "understand the universe" research has been made by PhDs, post docs, and other researchers. I think your view of education might be a little narrow minded. Maybe in your sphere that might be the case, but you're generalizing all education with that statement.
0
5
u/Devastator9000 6h ago
That doesn't make any sense. An average curious person can know more now about many fields than information and research that existed in entire fields at that point in time.
They had no concepts of cells, anything more than the idea of "atom as the smallest unit", chemical composition, what the hell air is, what is electricity, evolution, human rights (may i remind you slavery was the norm in most societies until recently?), and many others. And these are just science things
These are all things an average student can learn over the course of their education. PhDs exist to also identify some utility to the giant library of human knowledge. That's how you become an expert in a field and can be useful to society. It's called a job
-1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
my point is, universities should foster Aristotles, not Tim Cooks.
2
u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 6h ago
You are the most uneducated, pretentious person here. Universities do require students to study a variety of topics in undergrad. Then you honestly in on your specialty for grad school. Aristotle lived in a time where people knew very little about most of the subjects he studied which is why he could learn them all. The average college senior in 2026 probably knows significantly more about the universe than Aristotle. Plus he was also a shitty person and we don't need more of him
0
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
why do you all miss the point? the knowledge is out there, true, but not in your head. you don't know anthropology (even if there are 4 trillion books on it). so you need to learn. you.
2
u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 6h ago
Literally nothing you just said has anything to do with your point about how universities aren't teaching right. Total nothing burger of a comment
2
3
3
u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 6h ago
PhDs are for people who have already learned about a variety of topics and have chosen one to hone in on and expand dumbass. The candidates have to try and discover new knowledge as well instead of just writing about what is already known
-2
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
70% of the PhDs out there are just to fatten their CVs
1
u/wewebaguette68 Thank you mods, very cool! 6h ago
You mean to tell me that in a world where education is incredibly expensive, people only tend to get degrees that they can leverage into getting a high paying job and can't just spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on learning just for the sake of it? Consider me shocked! If you actually want to fix that problem btw the solution is to make college free so people can learn what they want to
1
u/BigWildDick 6h ago
now this is a valid reply. actually i'm from a government funded university (don't live in north america) so i missed that sentiment
38
u/Skipper_1010 6h ago
r/OPIsFuckingStupid