The Globe's Allemang has done an excellent job asking questions that feel new and might give skimming readers pause for thought. He asks, Do you really believe our leaders want us all to improve our critical thinking? Surely a servile populace suits the needs of the many. To which Nussbaum responds,
"For a while they can coast along in that belief, but something blows up in the end. NASA, the space administration, is a good example of that [...] [H]ow a culture of yes-people produced the disaster of the space-shuttle Challenger: you could see the O-rings were dangerous at a certain temperature, but no one was willing to point that out, and they packaged the data the way they thought their leaders would want to hear it.
"Now, NASA has reformed its culture and is much more encouraging of dissent. People are saying that BP and all the other oil companies should take a page out of NASA's book and reform their internal culture."*
...Do you [Nussbaum] feel obliged to prepare them [new Uni grads] for the big surprise when their values of critical thinking don't fit the needs of the workplace?
"I'm giving the graduation address at our law school, and I'm thinking of these wonderful people so full of critical ideas who are going to work for law firms. They'll be under great pressure to narrow themselves [...] So our responsibility is to strengthen the side of personality that wants to stay focused on that goal and help them fight the forces in life, including overwork, that militate against that need."
And finally, my favourite question: And then prepare them to be fired from their law firm for doing so?
"You just have to figure out how you in your particular situation are going to do it. It might be through being a critical voice in your law firm. It might be writing short stories if you can carve out a space. It might be through being a productive alum of your university. Or it might be through bringing up children who can think critically."
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English degree well worth cost
A writer lists "English literature" as a university degree subject with no practical value (June 3). He states that its students should be prevented from borrowing public funds.
Your readers need to know that 96 per cent of BC graduates with English degrees describe themselves as satisfied or very satisfied with their education. Eighty per cent say that the knowledge they gained at university is useful in their working lives. They work in fields ranging from education to corporate communications, advertising, high tech and journalism. They are prepared for further work in fields from law and medicine to business administration.
In light of these facts it's no surprise that former U.S. Treasury secretary Henry Paulson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Nobel Laureate for medicine Harold Varmus, astronaut Sally Ride, film directors James Cameron and Steven Spielberg, television producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, president of BBC America Worldwide Herb Scannell, many writers (including Tom Clancy, Philip Roth, and Stephen King), London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair, former U.S. governors Mario Cuomo and Pete Wilson and our own Gordon Campbell all majored in English at university.
Learning to think critically, read incisively and communicate clearly is always practical.
Obviously we all know on whose side I stand. Every summer, at least.
*I wholeheartedly agree that big oil should reform its internal structure, especially its "advisory structure". When you have your own internal advisors working to keep the government happy AND the people who pay you (big oil) happy, there is not a lot of wiggle-room between doing the minimum (for the environment, let's say) and looking to be promoted. Promotions out of advisory roles are often into management positions. Why would big oil promote a dissenting environmental advisor into a management position?
image #1 care of New and Blue Blog, image #2 care of fffound
