this post was submitted on 19 May 2025
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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

an ordeal to overcome which causes growth

That's the traditional argument for hazing rituals, sure. You'll get an earful of this from drill sergeants and another earful from pray-the-gay-away conversion therapy camps.

But stack-ranking isn't an ordeal to overcome. It is a bureaucratic sorting mechanism with a meritocratic veneer. If you put 100 people in a room and tell them "50 of you will fail", there's no ordeal involved. No matter how well the 51st candidate performs, they're out. There's no growth included in that math.

Similarly, larding people up with student debt before pushing them into the deep end of the career pool isn't about improving one's moral fiber. It is about extracting one's future surplus income.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

That's the traditional argument for hazing rituals, sure.

That's a strawman's argument. There are benefits to college that go beyond passing a test. Part of it is gaining leadership skills be practicing being a leader.

But stack-ranking isn't an ordeal to overcome.

No, but the threat of failure is. I agree that there should be more medical school slots, but there still is value in having failure being an option. Those who remain gain skills in the process of staying in college and schools can take a risk on more marginal candidates.

Similarly, larding people up with student debt before pushing them into the deep end of the career pool isn't about improving one's moral fiber.

Yeah, student debt is absurd.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

That’s a strawman’s argument.

That's not what a "strawman argument" is.