this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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Pretty sure universities were originally started by religious orders to be a place of learning. For them learning was a form of worship. This applies to both xian and Muslim universities.
@Seagoon_ there seems to be conflicting information online but most universities seem to exist separate to religious orders, despite historically being very heavily influenced by them at times.
the origin of universities per se, I'm talking 1000 years ago
But each university that exists today was founded for a unique reason
but to call universities places where rich people could do hobbies is insulting to both universities and to scholars and scientists.
For example, Darwin was a gentleman scientist. It wasn't just something he did in his spare time. It was his vocation.
@Seagoon_ yes, but he could only afford science to become a vocation because he was the son of a wealthy financier.
"The world's first university, The University of Al Qarawiynn, was founded in 895 CE by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri. She used her inheritance to form a large mosque with an associated school"
... so the world's first university apparently started by a woman of leisure who assumedly had a hefty inheritance if she could afford to start a University.
Even Siddhartha Gautama was a nobleman.
The luxury to spend time thinking and learning has traditionally been afforded to the wealthy, not the working class, and so when young folks now go to uni and feel like it was a scam, it's worth noting this history.