Shaq’s fifth degree: a criminology master’s, or just a way to keep learning?

The story

Shaq is pursuing a fifth degree, a master's in criminology, while advising Gen Z that AI can't replace face-to-face learning.

Source: fortune.com

Our reading

Shaq is getting a master’s in criminology, which is a field that, in theory, involves understanding crime, but in practice, might just involve him sitting in a classroom with people who know more than him. It’s the kind of thing that would make a robot think, ‘This is inefficient.’ But Shaq isn’t a robot, and he’s not here for efficiency—he’s here for the experience, the face-to-face, the ‘sitting across from someone who knows more than you.’

It’s not clear if the criminology program is designed to help him understand the criminal justice system or if it’s just a way to keep him from getting bored. Either way, he’s doing it while also being an unpaid general manager for his son’s team. That’s not a job, that’s a lifestyle.

Shaq’s degrees are a testament to his belief that learning never ends, but his advice to Gen Z—that AI can’t replace human interaction—feels a bit like a man in a suit telling a robot not to trust its own code. Still, he’s got the credentials to back it up, even if the degrees are more about showing up than about the content.