It was a bad example on my part. Good guess, but no, the town wouldn't give me a permit because of zoning. I thought that they had a low opinion of me because I'm still in school and if they didn't have the mentality that only accredited schools mattered. My mistake and I take full responsibility.
Fair enough.
My real reason is that I want education to be more accessible even to people who are considered unqualified by most schools.Unqualified people have a right to become qualified. After falling ill, I became more supportive of free education.
These three sentences contain three profound philosophical differences between you and me:
First, you can only make education so accessible, before the diminishing returns can no longer justify the cost. When you say you "want education to be more accessible even to people who are considered unqualified", I think that you "want to spend a substantial amount of resources to better educate a relatively small number of people". In an ideal world, I would absolutely applaud this policy and vote you in as Supreme Overlord. But in the real world, proposals like this carry significant tradeoffs that need to be seriously considered.
Second, I don't agree that people have a right to become qualified. At best, I'd say that people have a right to the
opportunity to become qualified, and that the state (or the community) may have a
limited obligation to provide such opportunities. If you want to increase the state's (or the community's) obligation, there are ways to do so, but then you have to start thinking really hard about the real-world tradeoffs I mentioned above.
Finally, there's no such thing as "free education". If you think education is free, either you're ignoring the fact that other people are paying for it, or you're going too easy on yourself (and not actually autodidacting yourself to any useful level), or both.
Nevertheless, there's a lot going my way here. For instance, why should a Pharmacy school deny transfer credits to an incoming Freshman or transfer student simply because the courses were at another school, even if they admit that the courses are identical to their own? Why should it be harder to apply as a transfer student than as a Freshman? There's no question of class quality either.
This seems pretty bizarre. I've never had any trouble transferring credits from one school to another. The process just seems to get easier every time. (I've moved several times, and have taken classes in several places. I've also not been in much of a hurry to get my degree.)
Is it possible that the school in question is poorly managed? When you say "they admit that the courses are identical to their own", what form did this admission take? Was it an admissions clerk at the front desk who told you this? Did you sit down with an academic counselor and inquire about the reasons for this policy? Did you overhear the Dean of admissions say this at a cocktail party?
I've found that in general schools are very open to new students, both freshmen and transfers, and that academic counselors are very open and helpful. If your experience has been different, I'd be inclined to think that it's a problem with that specific school, rather than a problem with the education system as a whole.
I like the part about CERN. Some of it is good and not meant to be a complaint! Some parts of the current system are good! Other parts are bad!
So would you say that CERN does or does not give autodidacts a chance?
I haven't autodidacted myself to the point that I'm confident in professions that I'd like to go into. I'm currently unqualified and I'd just like to become qualified.
Have you considered the possibility that the problem is not that the system isn't tailored to your learning style, but that getting qualified--really, truly qualified at a level that's actually valuable to the rest of your community--is hard, painful work?
It's a rare few lucky people who feel like getting educated is easy and fun. Most of us, even the ones who truly love their profession, have to put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get where we want to be. Real education is hard. If you think you've found an easy way to get educated, you're probably doing it wrong.
It may not be a question of tailoring education to your learning style. Instead, it may be a question of tailoring your expectations to the reality of getting qualified, and adjusting your learning style accordingly.
There are extensive education systems, both public and private, staffed with trained professionals who are dedicated to helping you learn. Why go it alone?
