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Speaking of IQ.

Trout bro. Here I my thoughts on the whole school thing.

Myself, I earned a bachelors degree in large part because my wife wanted me to. I do not regret it, but like you, I would have been fine for a while building my career sans higher education. I worked very hard and got good grades, and was involved in my degree, but I just wanted to be done as quickly as possible, so I picked a degree that was rather easy. In hindsight, there is not a month that goes by that I do not wish I would have picked a field of study that would have actually taught me something useful. Engineering, environmental science, medicine, or even a trade like welding or cabinet making or something (I did study wood working for two years as a hobby).

My point is, if you want to go back to school, make it for something that you feel will enrich your life outside of the normal "to gain knowledge" aspect. You can read books for that, and feel plenty fulfilled. My advice is if you need a fulfilling career, like becoming a doctor or engineer, or scientist or something, or even a teacher, then school is worth it. Otherwise, I think you would be frustrated with the whole process.
 
I would say stretch yourself to pick up a skilled or semi-skilled hobby. Gameface brews beer, and that takes a specific skillset. I wanted to do it myself, so I learned to build computers, and now do a decent amount of that on the side for friends and family and have learned a ton about them, and have a serious gaming rig to boot. Ditto for southern barbecue. I put forth the effort to learn and perfect my cooking and I love it with a passion I have rarely had for much other things in my life, to be honest. I have found both pursuits to be very fulfilling and fun and they helped fill that void, and I got something very useful out of them. Currently I am boning up on my German, as we may be moving there, and I am also writing a book and working on learning to make my own apps for the iPhone and for Android.

As others have said, if you do feel the urge to go back to school do your homework first. ;) You can always audit some classes to see if that is what you would like and find the subject that pushes you to want to learn more. Then just dive in.

Good luck and above all, have fun with it.
 
You are all excellent people, regardless of the negative reps I send you. You've given me much to ponder and a lot of good ideas. I'm currently working my way through 9th grade math on Kahn Academy (I wish I was joking about that), and it has been kind of fun remembering how that **** worked. It has been 20 years since I did long division or worked with decimal points and fractions. At the very worst, at least I'll be able to help my kids with their homework.
 
You are all excellent people, regardless of the negative reps I send you. You've given me much to ponder and a lot of good ideas. I'm currently working my way through 9th grade math on Kahn Academy (I wish I was joking about that), and it has been kind of fun remembering how that **** worked. It has been 20 years since I did long division or worked with decimal points and fractions. At the very worst, at least I'll be able to help my kids with their homework.

lol.. I find that incredibly hard to believe.
 
In hindsight, there is not a month that goes by that I do not wish I would have picked a field of study that would have actually taught me something useful. Engineering, environmental science, medicine, or even a trade like welding or cabinet making or something (I did study wood working for two years as a hobby).

Why are skills obtained during the course of an arts degree not useful?
 
And here I thought maybe starting this thread was a beginning of a new chapter for you where you stop being the ignorant, uncouth douchebag that you've been so far.

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And here I thought maybe starting this thread was a beginning of a new chapter for you where you stop being the ignorant, uncouth douchebag that you've been so far.

I went to school. . . . to university level school. . . . for 12 years. I took art classes, lit classes, dance classes, music classes, social science classes, business classes, language classes. . . . . . . besides the science. I had the notion that if I was going to be a know-it-all, I'd damn well better know it all.

As far as practical results, relating to stuff I could use in a job. . . . zilch. I wish I had taken some welding classes, some woodworking classes, some mechanics classes, and gotten an electrician license and a plumbing license. My brother taught me how to do bookkeeping, I got a real estate license, too.

yah I worked for some people who won either the nobel prize or the Priestley Medal, chairmen of the American Chemical Society, and others who taught me never to sit in a seminar and say nothing, that every scientist worth his salt can ask questions nobody has thought of, or that the lecturer can't answer. . . .

I never earned any real money until I became a consultant. For some reason people will pay for the guy who can walk into their operation and keep the place from blowing up, and blowing up the whole block of the business park, and stand in front of the TV camera and calmly explain that the local Fire Department is an excellent and professional outfit trained to handle emergencies just like this is a safe manner, and that every precaustion is being taken for the safety of the community.

Even when it's run by ignoramuses who won't listen to you. . . . .

I love the arts. It gives you exposure to a whole lot of creativity in life. And good sense about what to say or not say, in any situation.

It's a good idea for anyone to include a significant dabbling somehow in the arts in your life. Trout does it by fishing. The philosophical benefits of fishing are equal to any college arts program.
 
Really? When was the last time you did long division or multiplied fractions without a calculator or your phone?

You said '... used decimals and fractions.'

(Never mentioned multiplying fractions without use of a calculator.)

I dare guess you use decimals and fractions everyday, multiple times.
 
You said '... used decimals and fractions.'

(Never mentioned multiplying fractions without use of a calculator.)

I dare guess you use decimals and fractions everyday, multiple times.

let the boy alone. . . . he's done enough self-deprecation. . . . and please note I put the "pr" in there in the place of the usual "f".

I terrorized my girls about learning math without calculators. I taught them to mentally make simple substitutions to accomplish complex problems. Some neighbor kids were harassing them one day for being home-schooled dummies, until they started showing off, ratttling off times tables like 12, 13. . . . which is easy if you just make the places in your brain to hold parts of problems. The ten times table is simple. So is the two times table and the three times table. . . . all you have to do is add the parts.

decimals are fractions. . . . tenths to be exact.
 
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