re: The cult of ignorance in the United States: Anti-intellectualism

The world is more specialized than it's ever been. The old fashioned "university" education is antiquated and isn't any longer needed in my view.

In the 18th century, you had only two choices: Be a farmer or become a "scholar." Back then only a few rich kids went to college -- thus they had the time to spend on learning about the arts and humanities, etc. Most of the country simply didn't have the time or means to devote to it (you did all you could do just to eat).

Moreover, the universities then could ensure that the students were proficient in these rather arcane subjects because they didn't live in a very technically complex world. All there was to learn was the law, Latin, history and perhaps philosophy. The sciences and technology were infantile back then and have become exponentially more complex today. This is why you don't see polymaths like Gottfried Leibniz anymore: There's simply too much out there for even the brightest people to learn.

While I think we can do better, I am not concerned if the average student is not as expert in the arts and humanities as they were in ages past. History scholars don't make jack shite, whereas in the old days they were invariably of the upper classes. Priorities have changed.