The liberal arts

[Phillip V]

Ide, imagine a generation growing up without being force fed basic humanities knowledge. Then imagine them raising children. Their children raising more children. Do you think that society has gotten better or worse in the interim?

See a generation growing up without being force fed the body and blood of Christ.

[fhdz]

The original - classical - intent of the liberal arts education was to give citizens the necessary skills to be active participants in civic life. Marketability is good, but entering the workforce/having a trade/etc is only one aspect of being a citizen.

My feeling is that you cannot (aside from some outliers who tend to prove the rule) achieve this goal without educating people in the sciences and the humanities.

[Richard Hakluyt]

"Marketable skills" will vary almost beyond recognition in the lifetime of people who live for 80 years in a fast-changing society. Far better to properly educate people so that they can deal with anything that comes up than turn them into ideal corporate servants for a particular moment of time.

[fhdz]

"Marketable skills" will vary almost beyond recognition in the lifetime of people who live for 80 years in a fast-changing society. Far better to properly educate people so that they can deal with anything that comes up than turn them into ideal corporate servants for a particular moment of time.

Exactly this.

One of the problems with liberal arts *colleges* in particular these days is that many will allow a humanities major to escape school with barely any training in math or the sciences. That's no good. But it's no good to produce STEM drones either.

[Phillip V]

"Marketable skills" will vary almost beyond recognition in the lifetime of people who live for 80 years in a fast-changing society. Far better to properly educate people so that they can deal with anything that comes up than turn them into ideal corporate servants for a particular moment of time.

You want to build up people's character and wisdom so that they are resilient and adaptable to changing circumstances? How do I create a standardized test for that?

[CountDeMoney]

Besides which, the other alternatives of the government steering kids into certain programs are just too unappealing for a democratic society.

Don't have to worry about that, Mr. Santorum;  things like cutting Work Study Programs, Opportunity Grants and eventually Pell Grants are some of the other alternatives of the government steering kids into no programs at all.

[fhdz]

"Marketable skills" will vary almost beyond recognition in the lifetime of people who live for 80 years in a fast-changing society. Far better to properly educate people so that they can deal with anything that comes up than turn them into ideal corporate servants for a particular moment of time.

You want to build up people's character and wisdom so that they are resilient and adaptable to changing circumstances? How do I create a standardized test for that?

Antifragile citizens - that's the ultimate goal of a proper liberal arts education

[Camerus]

Besides which, the other alternatives of the government steering kids into certain programs are just too unappealing for a democratic society.

Don't have to worry about that, Mr. Santorum;  things like cutting Work Study Programs, Opportunity Grants and eventually Pell Grants are some of the other alternatives of the government steering kids into no programs at all.

Yeah, on that, I probably should have specified "the government steering kids into certain programs in the manner suggested by some in this thread"... obviously grants and whatnaught currently exist and can be a good thing.

[MadImmortalMan]

Don't most countries that pay for college give out scholarships based on what the economy needs?

[Razgovory]

The original - classical - intent of the liberal arts education was to give citizens the necessary skills to be active participants in civic life. Marketability is good, but entering the workforce/having a trade/etc is only one aspect of being a citizen.

My feeling is that you cannot (aside from some outliers who tend to prove the rule) achieve this goal without educating people in the sciences and the humanities.

Fahdiz is 100% right.

[Martinus]

We need to teach people liberal arts so they don't start idiotic threads like this that make them look like fucking retards.

[Martinus]

Ide is a proof that once a redneck, always a redneck. Education begins at home. If it's not there, then anything else is a waste of time and money.

[Ideologue]

Ide is a proof that once a redneck, always a redneck. Education begins at home. If it's not there, then anything else is a waste of time and money.

You know what rednecks are notorious for?  Advocating for a greater emphasis on hard science and mathematical education.

It's so cute when you try to understand America.  Or anything.

[Martinus]

Ide is a proof that once a redneck, always a redneck. Education begins at home. If it's not there, then anything else is a waste of time and money.

You know what rednecks are notorious for?  Advocating for a greater emphasis on hard science and mathematical education.

It's so cute when you try to understand America.  Or anything.

No, you are an uneducated hick that cannot understand the benefits of liberal arts education because you got none. This is not a nationality thing. It is a class thing and it works the same across the globe.

Kids who are not introduced to classical music when they are young, will rarely appreciate it when they are old - same goes for a lot of things in life - you are the best example of that.

[Camerus]

FWIW, I can't begin to describe how happy I am that I attended a school system that trained me in Shakespeare, western history, Plato and critical thinking, rather than a system that molded me into an IT office worker or a sheet metal cutter.