Just read books.
Peterson Academy offers courses with an exceptionally high production value covering an impressive range of topics about which I and many others are eager to learn, as demonstrated by the platform’s >40k subscribers to date.1 Enrollment also carries with it the potential benefit of stamping oneself with a ‘Graduate of Peterson Academy’ credential at some point in the future—for whatever that’s worth. This depends on accreditation and the perceived opinion of the Academy in the coming years, etc. These considerations made PA’s offerings enticing and constituted my initial interest and decision to enroll in the program.
However, since my enrollment ~5 months ago (just longer than the span of one semester) I have not taken full advantage of my subscription. The reasons for this are twofold. First, there is an abundance of high-quality content available for free or at far lower cost in widely available podcasts and videos. The level of knowledge you can gain from free sources in my opinion matches or nearly matches what one could expect to glean from PA—particularly if you approach PA courses less seriously than you would ‘ideally’ approach traditional college courses (e.g. taking detailed notes, revisiting material as you study for quizzes and exams, reading the assigned material…etc.).
But the second reason is the most important: the greatest technology for transmitting human knowledge has already been created, and it is dirt cheap: books.2
I earn a deeper understanding and better retain information through reading books. This was the case even during my undergraduate studies where my level of learning in a class was largely a function of the out-of-class reading I engaged in. Compared to any other learning modality that I have come across so far, reading stands apart. There is something about taking information in at exactly the pace you can manage (which is what reading is), being free to pause, reflect, and reread at your leisure as the information is transmitted from the author’s brain to yours through the words. This is the pace perfectly tailored to you at the time of reading.
Moreover, books offer us unparalleled access to a breadth and depth of knowledge. No matter how niche your interests are, there are likely far more quailty books available on your chosen subject than courses on PA or any similar platform. And to once again point out the obvious: books are cheap.
Some could find utility in other aspects of the PA experience such as the social media component. (I have not used it and have no desire to.) Others might prefer to have a teacher digest the content of books for them (this is what teachers do). There is no doubt this has its place. But I question the depth at which one can learn in this manner without considerable effort on the part of the student: similar to what the effort of reading entails.
I will likely not renew my Peterson Academy subscription for another year. I cannot justify the expense when I can access richer knowledge at paperback prices.