<p>Keiolei, you make a good point, though I did address this by suggesting that academic institutions need to reorganize their priorities (that is, to promote learning over other [still important] things like career services and social atmosphere). Like brooklynborndad is talking about (though may have a different opinion on what to do to fix it), there is a very obvious trend of anti-intellectualism that, I think, is detrimental to society.</p>
<p>Stevensmama, I would say that the general requirements are somewhat sufficient. Obviously not everyone can be a history, economics, philosophy, or literature major, but everyone can learn about all of those things. I think it’s not so important to make sure everyone has an in-depth knowledge of everything, but I do think that a cursory look at all subjects is sufficient enough to at least give people a starting point. If someone wanted to have an opinion on economics and the policies of our government, at least they will know the general workings of an economy in the first place so they can reason about how something ought to work versus the way it currently works, what other options could possibly be, where to read about it more and where to start if someone is interested in that sort of thing. Same with religious perspectives. That priest in Florida would not be burning a Quran if he knew what was written in it (almost all of the same beliefs and morals he believes in as well). I think the general requirements are fine the way they are because they do two important things: help first year students explore their options, and also do what I’ve described above. It’s a very good system in my opinion, but cultural attitudes towards learning in general is making it difficult for the system to be effective.</p>
<p>Distressed…
I’ve presented my arguments many times throughout this thread. If you have a counterargument, I suggest you get together the posts I made on the first page (or more, if needed/relevant) and dissect the ideas within them. Tell me how a society is supposed to function without educated people, tell me why the reason for a lot of the bad things in global society that I’ve described cannot be attributed to ignorance, and tell me why exactly I am wrong.</p>
<p>Now let’s keep this civil. No more insults.</p>