I'm finding this exchange between Reynolds and Jon to be interesting. In a sense, I agree with both of you. The problem I have with Jon's idea is that frankly, teaching, say, history (for example) at almost anything less than a bachelor's or graduate level is almost pointless aside from the very basics we can supply in elementary school. I am daily annoyed by the very superficial sophomoric and reductionist post-modern know-it-all views of the modern revisionist who; while not really understanding history (or how to study it properly) thinks they understand how Western culture is the bane of the Universe etc etc etc...(such as they are receiving in schools). Better they had taught them the basic dates and times of major world events in elementary schools and left it at that at that point.
Then again....to Jon's point, especially with the critical thinking skills:
Basic logic, deductive and inductive argumentation, formal and informal logic etc... Our society is sorely in need of such skills. Blue-collar working men need those skills. He references HVAC. I am 10 years an electrician and trouble-shooting for instance is a basic skill required to perform the job. I am willing to bet without him saying as much, it was trouble-shooting problems that the grief would set in and the younger techs be incapable of performing the trade. They were missing a basic skill-set.
Perhaps, we need to teach those basic logic skills etc. at the primary and high school levels because they absolutely transfer into the real world. While Reynolds is quite correct that basically 70 (I dare say closer to 80) percent of the bottom of the class does not benefit much from significant Liberal Arts education, there are some skills (like logic etc.) that are only found in those disciplines and unfortunately not meaningfully introduced until graduate education in most majors (if at all).
A mathematician, scientist, engineer would learn them from osmosis... A post-graduate historian as well. A post-grad sociologist would...
A simple 4-year college education in a non-discipline we've invented in the last 25 years like most of our kids are getting these days?....not at all.
Now, our kids aren't just stupid...they're arrogant and stupid.
