Edumacation

The new Apprentice has started, which pits a team of College and University Graduates against a team whose highest formal education was high school. American media has always had an anti-intellectual slant to it, so it's not surprising that the way this is played is 'educated vs uneducated'.

The truth is, there's many different types of education, and in the case of the players on the show - those that didn't go to High School opted for an education in the School of Hard Knocks. These are motivated, intelligent people with a strong independant streak. While they didn't attend classes every day, I'm sure they were putting themselves up for a mental challenge day in and day out. The school of hard knocks gives you something that you don't quite get elsewhere - real life experience. This isn't some intern position where you're given make-work or shunted aside when the big decisions come down. When in the school of hard knocks you're playing for keeps. The smarter ones of the high school crowd have likely been coupling their real life education with their own self-determined study path. Experience and knowledge lead to something that no school can grant: wisdom.

A formal education, however, should not be sneered upon. Formal education provides a clear and direct path to the knowledge. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and paths of reasoning that are known to be dead ends are avoided. The students are guided through the knowledge and shown what needs to be retained by the end of the course. In many ways, this provides the formally educated a more complete view of the big picture.

But most importantly, formal education is something that is quantifiable. The 'street smart' person has nothing but his own word that he has the skills to do a job. The formally educated have a slip of paper that assures they are knowledgable in a certain area of expertise. Few employers can take the risk or spare the time to see if the street smart person really can do the job or is just kidding themself - hence the formal education will win out in 99 out of 100 job interviews.