re: China eliminates 12k "Outdated" humanities and social science degree programs

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The concept of learning with no discernible gain outside of learning is admirable, but should not afford massive funding simply because it is learning therefore it deserves it.

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I agree in general, but it is rare that learning any subject, no matter how esoteric, has no discernible gain, even if gain is limited to fiscal.

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The vast majority of social sciences should be viewed and treated as hobbies.

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I do not agree with this. People have issues with social sciences because they do have a qualitative side and not just a quantitative side.

Social sciences have a huge import in a capitalistic system. It is hard to argue economics is not important. Sociology and psychology are also incredibly important to understanding the motivation of humans which is key to selling things.

Like it or not, advertising was instrumental in building the modern world and stoking the economic engines. Economics, sociology, and psychology are a big part of that.

You probably mean humanities more than you mean social sciences. Literature, history, art, music, religion, philosophy, and ethics, while important (IMO) are less directly involved in driving the economic side of nation building.

When you history consists of Mao murdering and starving millions of innocent poeple, ti makes sense.

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Frick socialism and communism.

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I’m here to point out that socialism* is merely the sheep in wolf’s clothing device to get a society to communism, which is a form of authoritarian dictatorship government by a less distasteful name.

*There are well-meaning folks who erroneously think that socialism can work amongst humans on a grand scale. Too many of the humans who inhabit the USA of 2026 are incapable of impulse control, following the rules of society or simple sharing with or courtesy towards others to allow it to work here. These types of folks are (unfortunately) making more offspring than the people who hypothetically COULD make socialism possible here. The socialist movement has folks in it who have good motives, but there are also folks in it that have nefarious intentions. The bad guys will win out.

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China eliminates 12k "Outdated" humanities and social science degree programsby DesScorp

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I’d really like to see this curriculum catalog from an institution that offers 12k majors. I would most likely be very interested in taking some classes there.

I tend to think that that there is no such thing as a useless degree. There are certainly people who will not make much use of any sort of tools or resources you give them, but I don’t see where four years of college is inherently useless. For instance, AirB&B was founded by two are majors from SCAD.

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12k majors. I would most likely be very interested in taking some classes there.

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You do understand that reporters are dumb, right? And that 12k most likely represents 12k degrees cut around the country, which averages out to 4 degrees for each of the 3,167 universities in China, right? Except that's not a headline that anyone is going to read.

Cut the underwater basket weaving degree across the country, and that's "thousands" of degrees.

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my journalism/media friends tend to be very well read, more informed, better at critical thinking, and better writers.
I have mad respect for written word journalists.

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When I was a rabid leftist I thought this way too. Until my "print friends" informed me I was a nazi in a cult because I didn't think a man could give birth. So much for critical thinking

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It's of interest in how a rival's policy may affect American policy, especially in how we finance college. Should we give $400K loans to not-rich 18 year old girls that want a degree in French Poetry from Brown or prioritize that kind of money for profitable majors? It's a needed debate.

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China has implemented a very similar financing and college program structure that the USA had for decades (that worked). In China, government supports and subsidizes the universities so that student tuition is kept low, like $1,500 or less. The government also prioritizes certain programs over others at individual universities. The net result is an educated population that is not strapped down by loan debt. Also, what you study dictates where you go to school.

That was the model for American public universities in the 1950s through the 80s. When I went to LSU in the early 80s, we paid less than $1,000 a semester for tuition, full price. Back in the day we had true agricultural and mechanical colleges that had A&M programs. There were liberal arts colleges that had those programs, specific colleges that trained teachers, nurses, etc. My mother went to a “teacher’s college” and became a school teacher. My father went to Wash U in St. Louis and majored in math and engineering.

But now the model here is to cut direct funding to universities and make individual students find sources of tuition funding, shifting the true cost of operations to the students, who fund the universities by taking on debt. Now each college tries to have a little of everything. They are all competing for the tuition dollars to survive. They have to appeal to every student, whether in engineering or humanities. Almost all public universities are spread too thin across their programs.

What China is doing is not “communism.” They are copying what we used to do here in America that set the foundation for American dominance. We should take note and get back to what we did that was so successful for so long.

now offering Industrial Espionage 101 and Copying other nations IP and technology 102