My students are know-nothings. They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest, well-intentioned, and utterly decent. But their brains are largely empty, devoid of any substantial knowledge that might be the fruits of an education in an inheritance and a gift of a previous generation.
They are the culmination of western civilization, a civilization that has forgotten nearly everything about itself, and as a result, has achieved near-perfect indifference to its own culture. Students at these institutions have done what has been demanded of them: they are superb test-takers, they know exactly what is needed to get an A in every class meaning that they rarely allow themselves to become passionate and invested in any one subject ; they build superb resumes.
They are respectful and cordial to their elders, though easy-going if crude with their peers. They respect diversity without having the slightest clue what diversity is and they are experts in the arts of non-judgmentalism at least publically. They are the cream of their generation, the masters of the universe, a generation-in-waiting to run America and the world. Related: The Chaos of College Curricula. But ask them some basic questions about the civilization they will be inheriting, and be prepared for averted eyes and somewhat panicked looks.
Who fought in the Peloponnesian War? Who taught Plato, and whom did Plato teach? How did Socrates die? Raise your hand if you have read both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Canterbury Tales? Paradise Lost? The Inferno? Who was Saul of Tarsus? What were the 95 theses, who wrote them, and what was their effect? Why does the Magna Carta matter? How and where did Thomas Becket die?
Who was Guy Fawkes, and why is there a day named after him? What did Lincoln say in his Second Inaugural? His first Inaugural? How about his third Inaugural? What are the Federalist Papers? Some students, due most often to serendipitous class choices or a quirky old-fashioned teacher, might know a few of these answers. But most students have not been educated to know them.
