Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Oh, allow me to explain.

> A) You believe you are smarter than 60% of people with degrees and are accurately capable of predicting supply/demand.

You don't have to be exactly 3 SD out to be smarter than 60% of a group of people, so I likely am. On top of that, these are people who've never had a real job and are choosing a major at age 18 or so.

But that's not the point. The point is many of these people just assumed the job would be there when they graduated without doing any research at all. They didn't even look.

There's two really terrible common pieces of advice parents give to their children: 1) "Just be yourself" when dating and 2) "When choosing a major do what you love".

> B) You believe an external factor is at fault.

Well, yes, an external factor is partially at fault. That external factor is the higher education establishment, which is corrupt as hell. They lobby the government for ever increasing amounts of loans for students and then award themselves $400k salaries. Don't let anyone tell you there's such a thing as a nonprofit institution.

The idea that 60% of people couldn't find work in their field of study isn't surprising to me at all.



"'Just be yourself' when dating"

Perhaps off topic (at least vaguely relevant to these boomerangs), but what's wrong with this "truth in advertising" advice?

I say this from a position of ignorance, that's what I did (sans explicit parental advice, but I suppose it was implicit), and it worked for me.


Fair enough, I don't agree but at least I'm sure I know your position now. :)




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: