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It's Academic

You live you learn
My favorite professors typically worked full-time in the field and taught part-time. Several of my GIS School professors fit that profile and it's part of why the UC-Riverside program is the best in the world. 

One professor was a professional surveyor. You could see in his body language how he related to geometry as his body being a physical point in a giant triangle while recording satellite readings to establish the data sufficient to accurately mark a point in space to within a few feet.

When I had a corporate job I frequently fantasized about working half time at my claims processing job and half time as some kind of educator or problem solver, trying to improve the job experience and work efficiency of the department. I never could figure out how that would work.

Usually what happens is someone who used to do X retires and moves on to teaching. Sometimes because they can no longer do X.

Those who can, do. 
Those who can't, teach.

In some cases, that works well. Coaches teach because sports are a young person's career, not because they are somehow incompetent. 

In other cases, it means that the people teaching are passing on outdated information and it will never be corrected because their new job is being paid to be an expert though they really aren't anymore. 

Their paycheck depends on sustaining the fiction they are smart and know things and they will double down on claiming that is so if their status as an expert is threatened or questioned, sometimes especially if they know they aren't really up to date anymore. 

Thus the dismissive and derisive phrase "It's academic." to mean "It's a pointless exercise or debate with zero bearing on or relevance to reality."

Someone should try to find a remedy for that issue. For purposes of this blog, just be aware that schooling for purposes of acquiring credentials may be largely unrelated to schooling for purposes of acquiring essential skills, knowledge and expertise.

And college degrees are sometimes best used to get a job teaching because those who can, do and those who can't, teach.

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