Don’t Listen to Your Ivy League Professors
Many times, the ivory tower does a poor job predicting the future
One of the greatest things about attending college is being taught by subject matter experts who bring unique expertise and insight to the classroom. I found this to be true while attending the University of Pennsylvania and given the impressive credentials of my professors, I typically did not question much of what they said.
However, as I took more courses, it became clear that while these professors may have a good grasp on past events in their area of study, many were extrapolating their understanding to the future, ignoring the clear hindsight bias that made much of their teaching accurate.
Having been out of school for several years, it is now very clear that many professors, especially those teaching at Ivy League Universities, were not very good at predicting the future. Below are three examples illustrating why critical thinking is imperative, even when you are learning from experts in a given field.
