The Importance of Education and Independent Thinking in Modern Society

If you measure success by wealth, can you compete with generations of established classes? We live in an era where family background often determines one's future. However, most people come from ordinary families, and the purpose of nine-year compulsory education is to eradicate illiteracy. Once you graduate from junior high school, you meet the basic literacy standard. You can pursue any career you wish, but you must acknowledge that most high-paying jobs require a degree, which remains an essential stepping stone.

Beyond work and earning money, education's greater role is in shaping one's understanding. In everyday life, most people only use knowledge up to the high school level. Knowledge beyond university is rarely used unless one is involved in research. However, the difference in cognitive ability is significant. Someone who hasn't attended university may find it difficult to comprehend this cognitive gap and might easily fall into an information bubble. To keep up with the latest information and develop independent thinking skills, a university degree is the minimum requirement. Further education is unnecessary unless you're pursuing research, as by the time you finish graduate studies, you're already in your mid-20s or older.

In recent years, due to immense employment pressure, there has been a proliferation of content online arguing that degrees are useless, often citing the earnings of internet celebrities as evidence. This reflects a lack of independent thinking, as it only highlights successful cases without acknowledging the many failures behind each success. Stories of Ph.D. holders delivering food are also used to argue against the value of education.

The truth is, while a university graduate might struggle to find a job, it's even harder for those with lower educational qualifications. Claims that an elementary school dropout can manage highly educated employees lack statistical backing and are used to mislead those without independent thinking skills into believing they will be the next success story.

Currently, most civil servants are women, primarily because women with lower educational qualifications are at a disadvantage in society. As a father, you would understand this deeply if you have a daughter—after all, we are all men. Women who fall into the lower strata of society are more likely to face tragic outcomes, whereas men still have slim chances of turning their lives around.

In conclusion, in today's society, at least complete a university education. This gives you the ability to choose your career, as even for jobs with technical barriers, you can teach yourself if you have the foundation.

I am particularly frustrated by recent news stories sensationalizing Ph.D. holders delivering food. I don't understand the purpose. Most Ph.D. holders work in roles that those at the lower societal levels cannot comprehend. Highlighting a single Ph.D. holder delivering food out of 100 delivery workers, where 99 have lower qualifications, is meaningless. Moreover, delivering food is an honest job and not shameful. Yet, those sensationalizing the news seem to equate it with begging, which is incomprehensible.

Then there's the issue of AI. Many small business owners are excited, thinking AI will eliminate the need for programmers. This is naive. AI hasn't reached the level of true artificial intelligence; it's essentially no different from using a search engine. AI integrates decades of human-contributed internet knowledge and provides quick, accurate answers to your questions.

However, due to the technical barriers in various industries, without a certain foundation, you won't know how to ask questions. For example, with something as simple as SSE and WebSocket, if you're not a programmer, you'll never be able to ask AI the right questions to meet your needs. You might not even be able to articulate the term "long connection" to communicate with AI.

Therefore, the reality is that AI, as a powerful tool, will only increase the development efficiency of senior programmers, while small business owners or junior programmers with significant cognitive gaps will find it increasingly confusing.

In the arts, the situation is even more absurd. For instance, in UI design, real client feedback shows that AI-generated works are easily recognized and deemed worthless. Designers need unique creativity and aesthetic sense. Originality is the high-value aspect of design-related jobs. If your work is just a template or AI-generated, you'll be eliminated.

The same applies to academia; otherwise, tools for plagiarism detection or AI detection wouldn't exist.

Thus, in every industry, the most important aspect of high-end talent is original value. This includes the programming industry, which is why only first-tier cities have truly original internet companies capable of launching high-value projects. Other second- and third-tier cities' internet companies are essentially just resellers.

Stop promoting the idea that education is useless. Especially in times of immense employment pressure, your degree, understanding, and independent thinking skills are your foundation for facing any challenge.