I do think reading the sequences is a decent at creating an intellectual foundation that works, which is what most students probably want out of an introduction to philosophy class, but most introduction to philosophy classes train students to recognize historical philosophical positions, which reading the sequences does not do.
I’m finding it difficult to compare LW to math/physics/compsci classes I’ve taken, with the exception of probability classes, where I think I’ve gotten more from working through the math than discussing Bayesianism. I think I’ve enjoyed time on LW more than any of the ‘soft’ classes I’ve taken, with perhaps one exception (a class entitled Alternatives to Violence taught by Colman McCarthy).
I imagine that reading LW might represent more knowledge than a business degree, but by “reading LW” I mean both reading LW and reading LW recommended books, like The Personal MBA (whose author posts here) and recommendations from this thread. (Implicit here is that part of reading LW and being active on LW is following the trails you find on LW; I think much of the value that gwern adds to LW is done on his personal site, and Yvain posts mostly offsite these days, and so on. LW seems good at sorting information, which is a rather valuable service.)
Perhaps relevant to this thread: I wrote up a sequence on decision analysis which parellels the semester-long graduate course on decision analysis I took fairly closely.
I do think reading the sequences is a decent at creating an intellectual foundation that works, which is what most students probably want out of an introduction to philosophy class, but most introduction to philosophy classes train students to recognize historical philosophical positions, which reading the sequences does not do.
I’m finding it difficult to compare LW to math/physics/compsci classes I’ve taken, with the exception of probability classes, where I think I’ve gotten more from working through the math than discussing Bayesianism. I think I’ve enjoyed time on LW more than any of the ‘soft’ classes I’ve taken, with perhaps one exception (a class entitled Alternatives to Violence taught by Colman McCarthy).
I imagine that reading LW might represent more knowledge than a business degree, but by “reading LW” I mean both reading LW and reading LW recommended books, like The Personal MBA (whose author posts here) and recommendations from this thread. (Implicit here is that part of reading LW and being active on LW is following the trails you find on LW; I think much of the value that gwern adds to LW is done on his personal site, and Yvain posts mostly offsite these days, and so on. LW seems good at sorting information, which is a rather valuable service.)