HN Explorer

Ask HN: Which uni course/school/subjects cannot simply be self-learned?

7 points by pacerier ↗ HN
Assuming a "100y-ltr utopia" where there's accessible online textbooks and resources for everything, Which course/school/subject would still be non-optional and worth taking?

[Given an extremely skilled/determined autodidact.] [For obtaining knowledge instead of license.]

Antiexamples: programming, maths (eg Ramanujan), law, philosophy.

14 comments

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TacticalCoder
Anything where the titles are protected by rules/laws/regulations/bodies.

You cannot self-learn medicine. I mean: you could but then you couldn't legally help anybody.

qup
> [For obtaining knowledge instead of license.]

From the OP

RetiredRichard
Social Interaction and Teamwork, while we like to think we can do everything ourselves, it's just not possible
tomcam
Weightlifting

Self defense

First aid

Shop

kingkongjaffa
You can totally learn weightlifting and barbell training from good books and YouTube and practice at the gym alone.
tomcam
Nice! I wasn’t but I’m scared of more back issues
MattyRad
The Engineering Communication course at my university had a public speaking requirement. Talking in front of a small group was difficult for a large percentage of students.

Senior projects (group work) where workload is- intentionally or unintentionally- asymmetrical.

atomicnature
I wouldn't want my cardiac surgeon to be purely self-learned (although, I'd take it as a positive signal if they have great curiosity, and are well-read).
qup
Probably an amateur learner cannot access cadavers or whatever they use to train on, and this field virtually demands hands-on experience to be considered knowledgeable. Which would mean yeah, good choice of response to the original OP.

I wouldn't care how my surgeon learned, so long as he was currently the best surgeon I could find.

qup
I think there are some hands-on disciplines that you could learn properly on your own, but which you could never be the best in the world unless you learned from a master.

Think woodworking, martial arts? Many more I'm sure.

I don't think this will be a very big list, though. You should be able to learn almost anything these days. I don't feel inhibited by anything except the sheer depth of some topics, and lack of my own time. I pretty much feel like I can learn anything.

Almost any topic can benefit from a good instructor, though, especially if it's one-on-one. They can steer you better than you can steer yourself as a newbie.

Is there a purpose behind this question beyond curiosity?

pacerier
purpose.. is so obvious till you answered it. re ""pretty much feel like I can learn anything"", so which uni course would you best take [if your goal isn't optimizing for the $$/resume or anything known]?

(Assuming you are Forced to take one uni course; after which you are Forced to take no more)

--

re "martial arts"; btw which unis [2023-2035] sell martial art courses?

qup
I would take a course which had an instructor worth listening to.

re "martial arts", let me google that for you: https://kungfukingdom.com/us-colleges-offering-a-martial-art...

(I admittedly lost the 'uni' bit in my response)

pacerier
re "instructor"; most in affordable schools are equally good/bad. and what they can provide [to an autodidact] will easily be outweighed by what the subject itself can
Ekaros
I think medicine as a whole. Yes, the knowledge can be self-learned. But the practical application less so.