There were always two types of people at college, those who want to learn things and those who want a certificate so they can get a better job. It was always pretty easy to distinguish the two.

I think the second group has gotten more and more prevalent over the years, and I think it has to do with how college was pushed on everyone for at least as long as I have been alive. They told everyone "go to college to get a good job!", and so a lot of people go to college who have no desire to be there, they just want to get a good job. In fact, even worse, they tell people "You need a college degree to get a good job!" They don't say you need to learn anything, just that you need a degree.

Well, if the degree is the important thing, it doesn't matter how you get it. Cheating is just a way to get the thing you want.

This is a classic example of Goodhart's Law: We created college degrees as a way to measure learning, but once people realized the college degree is what people look for, it stopped becoming a measure for learning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law

Scandal as fraternity discovers 2/3rds of pledges were cheating by paying TaskRabbit temp workers to drink and dance in their stead, while the pledges stayed home and doomscrolled.

I was a constant frustration to teachers in high school because I would do well on tests, but I wouldn't do the homework [1]. I'm kind of glad that I didn't know you could pay people to do your homework, since I have to admit that it would have been tempting to do that. I would like to think I would be above that, but it's easy to act high and mighty when you've never been tested.

Similarly, I'm very glad that I finished my undergrad before ChatGPT or Claude was released. It would have been overwhelmingly tempting to get AI to do everything.

For this one I actually do know I would be able to resist that urge, because I only got my masters a year ago and I was able to do that without using generative AI [2].

[1] I wish I had a good excuse for this. I regret not taking high school seriously now.

[2] With the exception of getting ChatGPT to generate BibTeX citations because Easybib is terrible.

Tbh I kinda enjoyed writing essays in college if the topic was interesting.

Nice guys finish last.

Welcome to the back of the line. We have cookies, at least. :)

"Man drums publicity up for his fake essay business for people that are too lazy to even use AI"

In 99% of cases the stuff you learn in college is useless post college. You got lucky. You must have one of those jobs where every single class you ever took is relevant. That's a cool job, for example every engineer must've took physics, chemistry and history. You must using all three at your job. If you're a programmer then it's physics, chemistry, history AND programming. Holy shit you're amazeballs.

Cheating is unethical but let's be real about the use-fullness of what's learned in college. I think these things are good to know as general knowledge but i'd be lying to myself if I said it is relevant to our jobs.

You did the right thing, based on your financial and mental capabilities, and you are not "useful in your job".

Look at your boss, his job is "gainful to him". He likely cheated in college and learned to delegate work and lead people.