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<p>I’m not disputing that the education has value in terms of actually developing your ability to think.</p>
<p>What I am saying is that you can offer an education that is both ‘faddish’ (as you call it, although I would prefer the word ‘topical’) AND also difficult and hence mind-expanding. That way, you can have the best of both worlds. You will have developed rigorous method of thinking AND you will also be immediately employable at a very high salary, or be immediately able to launch your own startup company. </p>
<p>The point is, not all faddish/topical subjects are easy. Some are immensely difficult. Search engine algorithms like the Google algorithm are both highly topical and immensely complex. Berkeley or other CS schools could design courses that revolve around teaching those kinds of algorithms. I am quite sure that such a course would be immensely popular with many undergrads who are looking for jobs, and would also be quite rigorous.</p>