FXTraderWill
Registered: Jan 2007
Posts: 325 |
10-06-07 06:03 AM
Quote from rcanfiel:
I have had both college graduates and high schol graduates work for me. There is little in what you say that is true.
The HS grads mostly thought in black and white, and struggled with grey areas. They were much more convinced their ideas were right, and had much less ability to think outside the box. They tended to be more superstitious and unwilling to change their viewpoint based on the available evidence.
What you call structured learning is the primary means over the centuries for people to become more knowledgeable, critical thinkers, aware of the world around them, build mathematics and communication skills, and a host of other mental and interpersonal abilities.
This is because smart people tend to be more inclined than dumb people to want to pursue higher education, thus it's natural that if you take 10 people who only graduated highschool and 10 people who have college diplomas, the college graduates will be less superstitious and irrational and more capable of "outside the box" reasoning, if you will. It's not college that gives people that capability. While there are very real correlations between educatation level and income and education level and intelligence, correlation is not causation. Smart people will tend to go to college, but for some people it truly isn't necessary. Obviosuly if one has issues with grey areas and cannot be logical and rational or see outside his belief system, going to college might help him learn some of those skills.
I think trading has given me a better education than college could have, because it has taught me humility, discipline, patience, and self sufficiency. It forces me to really understand and be comfortable with emotions, and be aware of behavioral patterns that might cause me to make decisions that aren't in my own best interest. Trading encourages the development of emotional intelligence skills, which, while some people naturally "have" more than others, most people lack... college graduates and highschool dropouts alike.
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