tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-967725849856848714.post3646488507894486814..comments2020-01-20T11:12:44.801+00:00Comments on Tertiary21: The Qualifications Arms RaceRobert Cosgravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13129521894852271451noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-967725849856848714.post-69937682667691100012010-10-28T00:44:51.405+01:002010-10-28T00:44:51.405+01:00I recently read The War that Made America, an acco...I recently read The War that Made America, an account of what on this side of the Atlantic is called the French and Indian War and on the other side the American campaign of the Seven Year War. The British and French aristocratic generals appeared to take turns making stupid mistakes. I was reminded of the Monte Python skit, The Upper Class Twit of the Year.<br /><br />There has been a great deal of military scholarship between the time of Roberts and that of Franks and schooling is a good way to master the information. Of course, the knowledge one needs to lead at different levels of rank and responsibility changes, so that to successfully rise in the ranks an officer must learn many things that are useful at one stage and not at later stages.<br /><br />So too, in the heat of battle an officer should already have learned what he needs to know. So a lot of what one learns "just in case" is never used.<br /><br />Still I agree that a lot of higher education is not useful. Some of that might be seen as a form of entertainment -- a service one consumes without intent to utilize the knowledge later.<br /><br />I think there is a similarity with health services. Youngsters in school like patients in a hospital are dependent on the offerers of the service to tell them what they will need. The people who run institutions of higher education have incentives to offer too much and to charge too much for what they offer, and the increasing use of certifications by educational institutions as qualifications for positions adds to the problem of excessive expenditure of time and money for education.John Dalyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05363204598363726098noreply@blogger.com