No, everything about it is nonsensical. Learning can be much more intense than in school just as working can be much more intense than in some 9 to 5 job. It's not a matter of age at all.
Getting a degree has other benefits. You might develop a passion for something you didn't know before. Something that's not as approachable as PHP. Something harder. Instead of a one off payment, a degree might enable you to fund your own startup whenever you have that great idea or develop a passion for something.
What if that social picture upload site bores you after a while or doesn't make you rich and you'd rather write algorithms to find patterns in cancer genes? Where will Peter Thiel be when you decide you want to go back to uni to study theoretical physics because you hate PHP?
My point is that I don't want to write a bunch of idiotic code to serve up images on the web no matter how much money that would bring. I would rather write algorithms that simulate the cellular environment as you said, but in this case wouldn't it be better to follow a path like this? Using the money to focus on what you need to learn and working with people who actually know what they're talking about?
It's fine if you get into an awesome college like MIT and Stanford where you can do something analogous to this through UROPs, but what about those kids who can't afford it? Wouldn't this be a golden opportunity to them?
Yet again, just like in college it depends on what kind of person you are. If you want to just chase dollars then you really might be better off in school, but if you want to work hard on hard problems and actually make a contribution. Then this just might be the best thing in the world. For example, where I live an undergrad doing research is unheard of. It's pure sanctimonious nonsense. Students are expected to mug up for exams get good grades, get a job then go do their masters. Or, do a MBA and then.... Well I guess you get the drift.
What happens to someone passionate in a grind like that? For someone like that Peter Thiel's endeavor might actually make a lot of sense.
I don't deny that it could be an opportunity for someone. But to provide that opportunity, the stipulation that you need to drop out of school is completely unnecessary. It excludes other people who might have good ideas and passion as well. This is Peter Thiel making a point about the education system. I get that point, but I don't like the way he makes it.
The issue this. If someone likes to solve hard problems but isn't a good entrepreneur he/she needs a degree. Just look at who Google hires. Or Halcyon Molecular, the company mentioned in the article (http://halcyonmolecular.com/team/positions-available/). We need many more people solving hard problems than we will have good entrepreneurs. Getting that degree means to leave a door open that you can walk through if it turns out you're a lousy entrepreneur but still want to solve hard problems. That said, it's better to drop out of school than be totally frustrated by it. It's better regardless of whether you get a $100,000 grant or not.
[Apparently Paul Graham doesn't like our debate though. It's a flame war apparently, even though I didn't think it was. That's why it takes longer and longer and loooonger for the "reply" link to appear]
Nah. If my guess is right then it's an exponential function of some sort. You know, the deeper nested the reply the greater the power of some f(x) and longer the time it takes for the reply to hit. There is a way around it though. If you directly link to a comment. A reply box automatically appears.
You know, what I haven't mentioned so far is that I want to go back to college someday and learn everything I can for the sheer pleasure of it. Perhaps, even get that oft dreamed of PhD. So, yes I understand your point, but don't you think that it will be a net win to apprentice under people like Peter Thiel?
He can teach anyone a lot about how to actually get around the entire changing the world charade. If it doesn't work out then fine you have a line on your CV re-enter college and apply whatever you've learnt over there. In a lot of ways that would be the most fruitful thing to do as real knowledge really lies between intersections of concepts. It's like one line of thought represents this plane on which we can walk, but the weird stuff always happens in the intersections of planes. Two, three or more concepts meeting and making shapes that confound us. If you really want to do something with your life then training under someone like that would be like magic.
He could probably teach me more about navigating that space than 90% of the college professors out there. So, in a way it's still a net win, don't you agree?
Ah, brilliant I didn't know that direct link trick :-) I know it's some function that determines when the link appears, but PG wrote that function (presumably) with some intention that I don't really understand. Some very crude form of stopping flame wars I would have suspected.
I don't know that it's that simple to go back to uni any time you want. You need the funding, you need to be admitted, you need to find the motivation, and depending on your age, some carreer paths might be closed at that point.
That said, I agree that it could be a great experience being coached by Thiel and his guys. Personally I would definately prefer that to a university degree. If kids learn that much though, why can this not be done in cooperation with some university so those kids get a degree afterwards? I feel a bit strange making the case for formal education as I'm usually on the other side of this debate and I dropped out of school the day the law let me.
Meh. It's a sign that I've been playing with HN far too long.
You know nothing worth doing is ever that easy. At my age going to university is fraught with problems too and I doubt it that I will be able to get the most out of the experience as compared to the bleak old age of 25. I've just got too many issues to worth through to do anything else. It's tiring. So, this actually makes a lot of sense.
I think that it's a statement about commitment. He's blowing $100k on these kids and they better put their eggs where their mouth is. I know that it is impossible to juggle both college and something like this at once, and it would be a tiring endeavor to tie up with schools. Plus it's awesome PR. So, I guess he didn't think twice about tying up with someone.
