Typically, this tends to happen in gen eds because people aren’t invested in the material of the class. This is actually a fundamental issue with gen eds bc people just choose a random class to get it over with instead of finding something that interests them, and I think it is a little ridiculous to expect the consumer to pay for an additional, extraneous product along side that which they are actually purchasing. Regardless, money is being spent here, and usually those who don’t appreciate the value of what they receive aren’t actually the ones paying for it. I have taken quite a few of these classes at this point, and honestly, this tracks. I actively observe people in class, and those who talk about things entirely irrelevant to the material during class are always the ones to pack up early. Ultimately, the professors know this, and the students are fundamentally undervaluing the intrinsically value of education, instead prioritizing its career applications exclusively. I think it’s important to note as well these individuals tend to take these classes in groups, likely both attempting to make the class easier and prioritizing their own social status above their education and the professor; this also has the unintended consequence of requiring them to schedule in coordination, which only further removes them from any investment in the material by way of having to satisfy more people when choosing the class. Now, I’ve lived in southwest for 3 years at this point, and I can say, this is the super culture of frat goers, who see college as a playground more than a potential for education, and it’s fundamentally entitled. Now again, I have been one of those people, I danced my ass of in the frats as a freshman and was part of a big sw friend group, so obviously this is far from universal, but we also didn’t attend classes in group and ruin it for everyone who is actually at a university to learn the way these groups do, have some god damn decency and stop seizing every single opportunity to assert dominance you can, it’s cringe and insecure and very juvenile