It looks like this kid really hit the books—or was it the apps? The wall behind him is crowded with important-looking degrees. Those certifications are usually given by colleges and other academic institutions to students who reach a certain level of expertise in a field or subject area.
Earning a degree can take years of work. A doctor, for example, typically completes four years of college, followed by four years of medical school and three to seven years of training in a specialty, such as emergency medicine.
When it comes to the internet, however, people don’t need an advanced degree to access specialized information. A web search turns up a seemingly unlimited amount of data—and artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT can even summarize and simplify those results. But does that make us experts?
The kid in this cartoon might look like an expert of some sort—at least at first glance. Study the cartoon and take a closer look at his degrees. Then answer the questions below.
—Laura Anastasia
1. Where are the kid’s degrees from? What types of expertise does he seem to have?
2. How is he sitting? What might that hint about the effort he put into his degrees?
3. How would you sum up the cartoon’s message? Do you agree? Why or why not?