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Chris: I think you are right, there is an element of elitism. Still, that may be a small part of the equation. Some people who are not the least elitist are also culture mavens. This was certainly true of many immigrant Jews of the first decades of the 20th century -and look where it got them, the top-o-the-heap. There also are those odd birds like Eric Hoffer, a longshoreman who wrote the best seller, The True Believer. If you have read this still very relevant book you know that Hoffer was dripping with high culture even though the book is a tour de force of political thinking and social psych. These days the best examples of the phenomenon are Asians, especially the Japanese and Chinese. Symphony orchestras remain viable in the USA and Europe but where "business is booming" is in Japan and China. Those countries now produce some of the world's best musicians of various kinds. And some of the world's premier classical music venues are located in places like Shanghai and Tokyo. America has seen the arrival of top notch baseball players from Japan, think Ichiro, for many years the star of the Seattle Mariners. But also think Seiji Ozawa, for many years the conductor of the Boston symphony. India has been in the picture too. Think Zubin Mehta, a Parsi, who has conducted orchestras of status around the world, in the USA, Europe, and lately Israel. Hell, nothing will replace quality jazz or quality Rock-n-Roll, but classical music can be and often is quality music like nothing else. Yes, the classical establishment needs its own house cleaning, the whole atonalist phenomenon of the past half century has been a huge mistake, IMHO, but reforms are possible and the sooner the better. What you said about a range of types of educational experience is very well taken. My years as a draftsman working side by side with architects and engineers taught me that, not counting experiences working with clients as a graphic artist and as s sign painter. In all such instances I would stress the value of something important to you, psychology. It all adds up. Indeed, we each need career skills; they are indispensable. Its just that we also need cultural knowledge, and need it badly. Have you seen any of the episodes of "Victoria" on PBS? I was impressed at how the queen, as part of her education, learned to be a top rate classical pianist. As did her husband, Prince Albert. And Albert, astute as he was as an art aficionado, was also a man ahead of his times in the technology of his era. OK, it is elitist to refer to the British aristocracy but, damn, that aristocracy stood for quality. Billy -------------------------------------------- ________________________________ From: radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com <radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chris Hahn <c...@2chahn.com> Sent: Friday, February 9, 2018 12:50 PM To: RadicalCentrism@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: [RC] [ RC ] Aptitude vs. Achievement / The Problem of Two Cultures Great essay Billy! We have discussed before the value of a liberal arts education. Perhaps there is an elitist twist here because it is a luxury to be able to study the sciences along side classic literature, religion, philosophy, psychology, foreign languages, etc. I had this luxury and deeply appreciate it, it allowed me to think from a broad perspective. In turn, this allowed me careers in minerals exploration, spa products, software for the financial markets, mediation, and organizational facilitation. I wouldn’t trade this for a quick-track-to-a-well-paying-job approach, but I certainly understand the arguments in favor of such a pathway. Chris From: radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com [mailto:radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Billy Rojas Sent: Friday, February 9, 2018 3:24 AM To: Centroids Discussions <radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com> Cc: Billy Rojas <1billyro...@buglephilosophy.com> Subject: [RC] [ RC ] Aptitude vs. Achievement / The Problem of Two Cultures The Problem of Two Cultures In my youth the "problem of two cultures" was understood as the humanities vs the sciences. Today the problem seems to be Silicon Valley vs Main Street, or Silicon Valley vs College Town. We finally have entered a long overdue time of techlash. Not that "computer thinking" is about to go the way of blacksmiths or buggy whips, that isn't remotely in the cards, but pontification by high tech "experts" is increasingly seen for what it really is, the voices of tech nerds promoting their vested interests. Sometimes the point of view expressed is also anti-intellectual and, in the bargain, obviously ill-informed. Not that changes in higher education aren't needed; they certainly are. Indeed, we need a revolution in higher ed, starting with kicking out maybe half of tenured liberal arts professors as dogmatic Leftists who are poisoning the minds of the young and not-so-young. However, to conceive of higher education as simply a matter of the demands of the job market is to misunderstand one of the main purposes of education itself, teaching culture to men and women, teaching the value of culture, and teaching the best values we can identify for our lives. A strictly vocational approach, as suggested by Strive Talent, has the huge disadvantage of privileging not the best that American culture can provide but whatever sets of ideas happen to be floating around society, from so-called pop culture, from Hollywood, from TV entertainment, from spoiled millionaire celebrities, from buffoons who happen to be rich, from comedians, from Right-wing radio, from Leftist Enviro-freaks, from Anarchists or from libertarians, from Wall Street, and you name it. But seldom from book lovers, from polymaths who are Renaissance men or women, from religious leaders, from smart-as-hell authors, from literary figures, and so forth. Yes, there are counter trends, C-Span's Book TV is a prime example, but far moreso than not, popular culture rules the roost. Usually this is a bad thing, not a good thing. I'm not some sort of stuffed shirt, sometimes pop culture can be refreshing, very creative, provocative in really good ways, but far too often it provides little more than c-r-a-p for our edification. Sure, I wanted to become an historian when I was a college student. But I also wanted to be cultivated, to be at home with people who like to discuss great literature, who enjoy Shakespeare, who have serious knowledge of the Bible and of classics that have given us our "deep heritage." I recall an afternoon in a park in Kelso, Washington, back in the 'nineties. I was listening to a recording of Beethoven's 9th symphony. A little boy was in the vicinity and he walked over an asked a question: "How come you have to listen to that kind of music?" Apparently he was raised in a family for whom Classical music was regarded as unpleasant, or no better than meaningless. Unlike my own family or the families of my best friends, where Classical music was regarded as unarguably the best music in existence. As a young man my friends included a would-be concert violinist, a very accomplished organist, a trumpet player, and so forth, and one friend had a father who was a concert baritone who, among other things, sang solos in annual performances of Handel's Messiah. I "discovered" philosophy at age 17. I had friends who made similar discoveries of their own by age 18 or 19 and one of the joys of college was to talk with other young people who also saw the value in critical thinking, in pursuing lines of reasoning, who had great curiosity about the great thinkers of history, including great thinkers in the realm of religious faith, viz, Aquinas or Schweitzer or Alan Watts the Buddhist scholar, manifestly not such simple minds as Billy Graham or other pop preachers. The point of all of this is that there is value in exploring meaning in life, in learning how to think, learning how to make the best use of culture in one's life, all of which can and usually does lead to a lifelong desire to seek education -in various forms- as long as you live. None of this says that you should forget about a career; the opposite is true. But it does say, to paraphrase Socrates, the uncultured life is not worth living. Why? Because "culture," in the sense the word is used here, is all about being your best, in learning the best things, and -as much as it may be possible- in being your best, starting with what is in your head and heart. Sorry, but vocation centered education is only half of a real education. Billy ________________________________ From: radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com<mailto:radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com> <radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com<mailto:radicalcentrism@googlegroups.com>> on behalf of Centroids <drer...@radicalcentrism.org<mailto:drer...@radicalcentrism.org>> Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2018 10:04 PM To: Centroids Discussions Subject: [RC] Stressing aptitude over achievement, Strive Talent pitches a new way to hire Stressing aptitude over achievement, Strive Talent pitches a new way to hire http://social.techcrunch.com/2018/01/24/stressing-aptitude-over-achievement-strive-talent-pitches-a-new-way-to-hire/ [https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/gettyimages-610949074-1.jpg]<http://social.techcrunch.com/2018/01/24/stressing-aptitude-over-achievement-strive-talent-pitches-a-new-way-to-hire/> Stressing aptitude over achievement, Strive Talent pitches a new way to hire | TechCrunch<http://social.techcrunch.com/2018/01/24/stressing-aptitude-over-achievement-strive-talent-pitches-a-new-way-to-hire/> social.techcrunch.com A number of startups are rethinking how hiring should work, because while many employers require a college degree for a job, the fact is that most of the.. (via Instapaper<http://www.instapaper.com/>) ________________________________ [https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/gettyimages-610949074-1.jpg?w=593&zoom=2] While unemployment in the U.S. hit a 17-year low<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/business/economy/jobs-report.html> and the stock market keeps humming along<https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-powerful-stock-market-rally-isnt-ready-to-call-it-quits-2018-01-24>, there’s a lingering sense that all is still not well in U.S. labor markets. Most jobs require a college degree these days, a proposition that’s becoming increasingly unaffordable even if it is attainable. Many students who graduate are saddled with so much debt that not even a decent salaried job can guarantee payback in a reasonable amount of time. And the effects of this debt overhang ripple through the entire economy. Against this backdrop a number of startups are rethinking how hiring should work, because while many employers require a college degree for a job, the fact is that most of the skills needed to perform those jobs aren’t taught in college. Enter Strive Talent<https://www.strivetalent.com/>, a new startup that’s trying to come up with (arguably) better criteria to determine an applicant’s suitability for a job. For founder and chief executive Will Houghteling (Ivy Speaker 2009<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PawGBv03MiQ>), the issue is hardly academic. The son of two educators, Houghteling spent his professional career at the center of some of Silicon Valley’s experiments with the democratization of education. [https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/houghteling-headshot.jpg?w=380&h=570] Will Houghteling, founder and chief executive, Strive Talent First at YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/> working with massive online open courses from Udacity and Coursera for four years, and then at Minerva University<https://techcrunch.com/2013/01/14/non-profit-innovation-how-minerva-plans-to-make-its-affordable-next-gen-university-a-reality/> (Silicon Valley’s experiment with a university education without the college campus infrastructure), Houghteling was exposed to the latest and greatest models for making education more accessible. With Strive, the model is to make the job market more accessible without the need for a college education. “I asked myself; what is the future of college and what is the future of college for these populations that college is not serving well?,” Houghteling tells me. “There are faster, better, cheaper ways for people to get those great jobs they desire.” So he developed one that he thought would work. Strive is a competency-based platform based on ability and potential rather than pedigrees, says Houghteling. Strive has outsourced the cognitive assessment component to an undisclosed, Los Angeles-based company, but the interview and other assessments are performed in-house. The goal is to help people get what Houghteling calls “middle-skilled” jobs in sales and customer service. The model, he says, is similar to Triplebyte<https://triplebyte.com/>, except it’s for middle-skilled jobs rather than engineering roles. The inspiration came from Houghteling’s time at Google and Minerva, where the model for hiring talent and admitting students was very data driven. “In both of those instances I thought abut evidence-based scientific candidate evaluation,” says Houghteling. Candidates for jobs using Strive Talent take a cognitive assessment and a work sample test, and then have a structured interview. Selection is then based on scores and evaluations rather than a candidate’s education and pedigree. There are no educational requirements for candidates through Strive and the company has encouraged employers to relax their own requirements. “None of the companies we work with now require a college degree” for the positions Strive hopes to fill. The company launched in January with an extensive pilot project at Uber to help them hire entry-level sales people and continued with some large undisclosed national retail bank, Houghteling said. “The focus that we have is helping candidates get access to jobs that are family supporting and have a professional pathway,” says Houghteling. “We try to work with companies that are, at a minimum, paying $40,000 per year.” Once a candidate goes through the Strive assessment process and is placed in a role, the employer pays a percentage of the first-year salary to Strive. The range of payments is from 10 percent to 20 percent, depending on the volume of hires that the company is hiring through Strive. The traditional fees of a staffing agency comes in at 20 percent to 25 percent, Houghteling says. So far, 70 percent of Strive’s applicants didn’t have a college degree and 70 percent were also minorities, Houghteling said, but he takes pains to stress that the company isn’t intended to be a diversity strategy. “Data-driven, objective hiring will lead to higher performing teams and more diverse teams because it overcomes a lot of the existing bias when you’re looking at a resume.” Looking out at the new reality of a tighter job market, Houghteling sees even more of a reason for companies to work with Strive. “I’m thinking about how the macroeconomic climate impacts our effectiveness. The tighter the job environment, the more companies need to work to find great candidates… and they may need to dip into pools that they haven’t previously considered.” Beyond that, Houghteling stresses that underemployment hasn’t been addressed despite the increasing strength of the employment market. “We have this decreasing economic mobility and a shrinking middle class and we have this large pool of open, middle-skilled roles<https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/nearly-three-quarters-of-us-companies-expect-their-demand-for-middle-skills-jobs-to-increase-accenture-research-shows.htm>,” he says. “That’s about 40 percent of the American economy.” To expand the company’s sales and marketing efforts and its services offering, the company has raised $3.8 million in seed financing. Los Angeles-based Upfront Ventures led the round, with participation from Kapor Capital, Webb Investment Network, NextView Ventures, University Ventures and Graph Ventures. “We have been evaluating many opportunities in the area of skills development outside of traditional educational channels to drive a double bottom line,” said Kara Nortman, the investor at Upfront Ventures who led the round, in a statement. “Will’s demonstrated success working within innovative organizations like Google, YouTube and Minerva brings needed expertise to bear on this critical issue. He has the rare combination of domain experience, functional ability and lifelong passion to build the skills marketplace of the future.” Houghteling sees a lack of vocational training in the U.S. these days and thinks that Strive can also play a role there. “One-third of Americans have this college degree and this path to the knowledge economy, and family supporting, AI-proof jobs,” he tells me. “There’s not a great vocational training option to get people prepared for middle-skilled jobs.” Indeed, Strive will also offer training around interview prep and industry-specific toolkits to get applicants up to speed before they’re placed in their roles. “These are short, targeting employers in courses that would be of especially high value to candidates,” Houghteling said. The company said the seed funding will be used to further develop the hiring platform and assessment toolkits. “For decades, we’ve asked young people to pay tuition — increasingly unsustainable tuition — for postsecondary education without any guaranteed employment outcome. New faster and cheaper models like Strive are poised to upend the ‘college for all’ consensus — providing guaranteed pathways to good first jobs at no cost,” said Ryan Craig, co-founder of University Ventures in a statement. 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