2026-01-07 04:21:36

Recently, I came across a very interesting phenomenon — the data analysis giant in Silicon Valley announced that they no longer require a college diploma; high school graduates can directly join the company. After probation, the annual salary can reach $170,000, which is like bypassing four years of college and earning more than college graduates of the same age.

Elon Musk also posted a hiring message on social media, with the core message being: We don't care where you graduated from, we don't care if you went to college or not, as long as you can code.

What is really being said behind this?

In simple terms, it’s a continuation of the nearly 300-year-old university system, which may truly be coming to an end. The company even straightforwardly stated: "Everything you learned in school is wrong." Although this statement is a bit absolute, the underlying issue is profound — the entire logic of education needs to be re-evaluated.

Modern universities are actually products of the Industrial Revolution. Back then, Prussians designed an assembly line: the same courses, the same exams, mass-producing obedient and useful "industrial parts." College students are like being raised in sterile laboratories, with standard answers to questions, and if not, they can retake exams. In the end, they produce a bunch of people who only know theory and can't apply it.

But Silicon Valley has long seen through this. Under the impact of AI, these knowledge and standardized skills are worth very little.

It’s not that education is useless, but with the wave of AI coming, the requirements for talent have completely changed. So that company directly broke the greenhouse, throwing high school students into the front lines of production, connecting with real customers, and solving real problems. In this chaotic environment, they cultivate true perception and adaptability.

AI handles clean data, but the real world is always messy — machines break down, networks lag, customers get furious, and there’s noise and sudden situations everywhere. This is the most valuable skill.

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DegenWhisperer

· 01-10 02:35

Damn, this logic is pretty ruthless. Using high school students as cannon fodder to learn cost optimization—so clever. A high school graduate earns 170,000 a year, and people who study four years in college are just wasting their time? Come on, that's just a Silicon Valley pie. The ability to handle dirty and chaotic reality? Isn't that just resilience built through torture? Sounds so fancy. The college system is indeed outdated, but to dismiss all learning entirely is too absolute. The knowledge base is still useful, right? This move, at its core, is about cutting costs and finding cheap labor. It sounds high-end but the logic is still so pragmatic. It's uncomfortable. It feels like we, the educated folks, are the ones about to lose our jobs.

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SigmaBrain

· 01-09 22:40

Whoa, $170,000 directly skipping college? This is the real way to break the cycle of internal competition, much faster than studying. --- Wait, going straight into the frontline after high school requires incredible resilience... the real-life scenarios are completely different in terms of cruelty. --- You're right, this set of standard answers should have been smashed long ago, but the problem is not everyone can handle this "throwing into the fire" teaching method. --- Elon Musk's move is actually ruthless; it reduces labor costs by half while still finding truly capable workers. Traditional colleges have been completely exposed. --- It's a bit terrifying. If this development continues, college diplomas will truly become a luxury. --- The key is that practical skills are indeed more valuable than rote memorization; clients won't forgive your bugs just because your GPA is high. --- This wave has really arrived. Look around—how many people actually can't make use of what they learned in college? Purely a waste of time and money.

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TokenUnlocker

· 01-09 17:21

High school graduates directly earning 170,000 per year? Sounds good, but in reality, it's just replacing the premium of education with cheap labor. That said, the traditional university model definitely needs to change. With AI coming, studying anything is pointless; it's better to hone skills in real business. But this logic applies to Web3 as well—many projects don't care about background; if you can write smart contracts and understand economics, you can get on board. And the result is...

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BearMarketSunriser

· 01-07 04:51

Wow, I love this logic. College is really just raising bugs. High school directly entering the workforce with an annual salary of 170,000? Why didn't I catch this wave of benefits? Honestly, after AI arrived, traditional education became a joke. Standard answers are useless. Reality is the best teacher. Only in a dirty, chaotic environment can you develop real skills. Now those guys who spent four years of youth just to get a diploma might feel a bit awkward.

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GasWaster69

· 01-07 04:50

Purely a capitalist's dream, high school students just doing the work is indeed convenient. Basically, it's about wanting cheap labor, euphemistically called "breaking the greenhouse." The college system does have issues, but replacing them with high school students is really absurd. When did Silicon Valley start being so "egalitarian"? It's really funny. Being able to write code ≠ being able to make products; that logic is a bit too naive. I just want to ask, will these high school students still be doing this work five years from now? Will they be phased out? The college system definitely needs reform, but this isn't reform—it's just finding an excuse to suppress wages.

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ForkThisDAO

· 01-07 04:42

The part about discussing military strategy on paper really hit me. Four years in college are basically about nurturing snakes. High school students can earn more money doing actual work than college students, which shows that degrees have really become worthless paper. AI has indeed changed the game, but the problem is that most people are still anxious about their education level. I agree with Elon Musk's logic—if you can do the work, that's enough; everything else is nonsense. The current education system is truly screwed; it's still using the methodologies from the industrial era. Wait, does this mean that the Web3 approach of self-taught success has actually been right all along? What schools teach is indeed too disconnected from reality.

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StablecoinAnxiety

· 01-07 04:38

Damn, I really can't believe this logic. High school students directly go to the front lines to work, which is much more cost-effective than staying in the ivory tower for four years. When a large number of practical players emerge, those degrees will depreciate even faster.

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BridgeJumper

· 01-07 04:33

That's incredible. Working straight out of high school with an annual salary of 170,000 RMB is much more cost-effective than wasting four years of youth. Honestly, the Silicon Valley approach has been figured out long ago. Academic performance on paper is bullshit. Wait, isn't this just another scheme to cut the leeks again? Now everything emphasizes devaluing degrees, but true geniuses really don't care about that stuff. The university system really should be abolished, but no one dares to actually do it. I just want to know what happened to those companies later. Can high school students really handle responsibilities independently? All the hype about Silicon Valley is just a dream; the reality of implementing it is another matter.

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blockBoy

· 01-07 04:26

High school students directly earning 170,000 dollars? I see through this logic—it's just a lack of people and not wanting to train them, using AI as an excuse. Last year, they were still shouting about the devaluation of academic credentials, and this year they're starting to sell anxiety courses with the slogan "Practical skills outweigh theory." The套路really follows the same pattern. Universities do have issues, but using "What you learn is all wrong" to attract cheap labor? That's the same rhetoric in Web3. The greenhouse has indeed been broken, but can high school students who are thrown directly into the front line handle it? Or are they just exploiting young people again?

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