I read three items in the news this morning, which at first glance, may seem disconnected. But for me, they are all part of the whole picture, grainy and blurred, a reflection of a country embracing mediocrity at our peril.
The first article discussed the state of critical thinking in college graduates who are coming into the job market, and their lack of required skills to perform higher order thinking tasks. The second was an article on the trend in entertainment to "remake" films and television programs which were popular 30 or 40 years ago, updating them to entertain today's youth. The third was yet another discussion about the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial, which has a quote engraved upon it which was taken so far out of context it changes the meaning entirely, and which has caused controversy to rage between those who were associated with the man versus those who know only of the legend.
The article which got my mind rolling this morning was, "Many college students lack critical thinking, study says" (http://www.centredaily.com/2011/01/19/2462253/many-lack-critical-thinking-study.html,) which discussed the research findings of a study conducted by lead researcher Richard Arum of New York University and his associates. They followed 2322 students at 24 colleges and universities across the country through a traditional four year college education, observing and examining their skills as they moved towards their college degrees. The results were shocking only in that they confirmed what many people older than 40 have been saying for some time - students today, at all levels, are not experiencing the rigor in education that is necessary to learn the critical thinking and reasoning skills that are required for long term success in a pressured work environment. It may surprise those who were not liberal arts majors (which include the sciences and math) that those disciplines were shown to have the most advanced level of higher order thinking skills, while students in business, education, social work and communications lagged behind.
And yet, business majors eclipse those with liberal arts degrees in the hiring cycle, often getting more offers and more money out of college than their peers with more coursework and higher degrees. Meanwhile, those same employers continue to complain about the lack of preparedness in new hires and the need for basic skills training once they are on the job. Could there be a connection, one wonders?
The second item was a headline discussing yet another remake of an 80's classic movie, this time "Footloose," which popped up in front of me while I was trolling the news of the world. The remake trend is not a new one - from "You've Got Mail" to Charlie's Angels" to "The Pink Panther" and "Willy Wonka," remakes are big business in one of the biggest businesses on the planet. While the public continues to reluctantly shell out money for these old ideas made not-so-new, the production companies, staggered by the high costs of filming and the higher risks of being original, have increasingly embraced what they perceive to be the sure thing even as their revenues have dropped. While people ponder why there are no fresh ideas coming out of Hollywood, they continue to support with their revenue movies and reality television where all life is scripted and watered down reruns are the daily special, instead of demanding something innovative and creative to view. Is the connection that difficult to comprehend? Evidently so.
The final article, "MLK memorial dedication set despite controversy" (http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/16/us/mlk-memorial/index.html?hpt=hp_t1) is one of many discussing a controversial new memorial statue which is being dedicated to the civil rights leader. In developing the theme for this memorial, a number of famous MLK quotes have been inscribed on a stone wall, one of which was taken out of context in such a way as to change the meaning substantially and materially. While wordsmith Maya Angelou complains, too many others simply cannot comprehend what the fuss is about, in a rather depressing world wide show of ignorance that is shocking even to a cynic such as myself. If we cannot comprehend the changed meaning of a famous quotation in our native language, why should anyone take us seriously?
How are these three disparate items connected, you are wondering? To me, they are evidence of our declining level of drive towards excellence, something which made us a world superpower and the lack of which threatens our very existence.
Too dramatic, you think? How about some facts to back up that statement. Fair enough.
The United States is indebted to foreign entities, primarily other governments, at a rate of almost 50% of the total national debt. [All statistics were gleaned from the most recent US Census data, which can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/international_statistics.html.] The largest single lender is the Chinese government, primarily due to the trade imbalance. But we have spread our national woe far and wide, and "We are the world" has taken on a whole new meaning in this era of globalization. As we go, so too goes the world, and the entire world economy is in danger, at least partially due to our inability to think critically about our own financial conduct and our unwillingness to take the necessary steps to get the situation under control.
Our manufacturing sector, fully industrialized, is rapidly being overtaken by developing countries, particularly China, which has an almost endless source of labor at very cheap cost. Although the US still has [barely] the largest manufacturing output in the world, Japan has the highest rate per capita, and China has the most rapidly developing sector. We lost ground, from 2000 to 2010 in all economic sectors, save one, service, while other countries saw rapid gains. While cheap labor accounts for some of the disparity now being seen, it is not the whole answer, and one need only refer to recent census data to understand why we are losing ground.
It is, quite literally, our lack of emphasis on critical reasoning and our embrace of the here and now over the future that has led us inexorably to this point. Our national credit rating has been downgraded [something which probably should have happened long ago but for the fear of the impact on the world's financial markets] because of our inability to come together and think strategically about what is best for this country.
We are losing ground in education while most countries are increasing. We pass laws that require expensive student testing while refusing to fund the effort, and we reward those who dumb down their curriculum while punishing those who keep standards high but don't meet an arbitrary number determined by political votes rather than realistic expectations. We have watered down the academics while pushing inflated grades ever higher, and we reward corporations run by those graduates to focus on the short term shareholder dividends instead of planning for the long haul.
We have replaced higher paying manufacturing jobs with minimum wage service jobs, and pulled the rug out from under unions while fighting wage increases designed to keep people out of poverty (and with enough disposable income to continue buying what we are now importing.) We have farmed out our technology manufacturing to countries which cannibalize it and us, while importing everything from bananas to H1-B workers to keep our economy lurching along. We have sold the farm to get ready cash, and can't pay for the food we can no longer grow for ourselves.
How did things come to this point in a country founded on freedom to think, to dream, to pray, to pursue our version of happiness? What has driven us to the edge of this cliff, and is it even possible to retreat to safety any more?
I do not place blame entirely on one political party or the other. The intractable nature of politics in this country today is, in my opinion, a reflection of that very inability to think critically, long term. Compromise takes thoughtful understanding and higher level reasoning, something which seems to be in short supply amongst our so called leaders [and the population at large.] When a majority of voters in a state can put into office a governor who was not successful in obtaining a college degree, we have demonstrated for the world that excellence is not our primary goal. You can disagree with me, clearly 1,127,798 Wisconsinites do, but the facts cannot be changed so easily to fit your popular ideology. And the facts say that we are in a mess, with no easy way out.
Language, the way we use our words, is indicative of our ability to think and reason. English, writing and penmanship were, in bygone days, skills that were considered crucial for an educated man or woman. As they focused on learning to write beautifully, both physically and in thought, people were trained to consider what each word meant, and the impression it conveyed from the context of the sentence in which it was found. With tweets and texts and emails shot off with little regard for the consequences, our ability to comprehend subtle meanings is rapidly fading.
I recently wrote a blog post in which I used a relatively uncommon word. When asked why I chose that particular word, I explained that it was the first word that came to mind, because it conveyed exactly the meaning I had intended. As I was writing the post, it did not occur to me that other people would not understand the importance of my word choice, because it was self-evident to me. But the conversation was a reminder that, in fact, words are not as important to everyone as they are to me, and the subtle meanings I imbue to the sentences that flow from my mind may be entirely lost on those for whom words have no shades of meaning.
The difference a word can make is readily apparent. The quote attributed to MLK, in grievous contextual error despite being technically correct, states, "I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness." His actual words, in response to the question of how he would want to be remembered in his eulogy, were, "If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter." Put into context, he was humbly acknowledging his own part in the tide of change that was coming to America at that time, and it was an important recognition that the civil rights movement was larger than one person. If is just one small conditional word, but it makes all the difference in MLK's meaning and our understanding of both the man, and the movement. Lazy thinking does not enhance understanding. We have embraced mediocrity.
I have always been a thought crafter. I do not just write words, I hope to convey thoughts and seek to inspire or elevate the discourse between us.
It is not only how I think, it is how I raised my children to think, as well. I am not a seething intellectual snob - some of my favorite movies star Hugh Grant [I don't think anyone would call his movies significant,] and one of my favorite authors wrote the most simple books. But I do expect a modicum of intellect to spark at the sight of the written word or a creative endeavor. I may not be able to do complex calculus, but I can add 2+2 without a calculator. I sometimes wonder, when awaiting my change at the store, if the teen behind the cash register even grasps a basic understanding of the math that is clearly defeating them.
When my children were small, no question was too trivial that it didn't deserve a serious answer. My kids, both inquisitive, asked millions of questions over the years, and I sincerely tried to search out the answers with them. I allowed them plenty of room to think for themselves, even at a cost of failing occasionally, so they would learn sooner rather than later the consequences of poor critical thinking.
It is not because I am a better person that I followed the more difficult course of holding my children accountable for their mistakes, even when it caused them short term pain. It is because I wanted my children to be successful at life that I continually pushed them to think for themselves, and to come up with their own line of reasoning. What baffles me is how a parent can do anything else, and yet, there is strong evidence that plenty of them do.
There has been rather a lot of complaining about the influx of foreign born workers recently, particularly those coming from Asia. I don't think it is a coincidence that a part of the world in which education is valued and where teachers are akin to God is also producing young people who have strong critical reasoning skills. When we started substituting Kim Kardashian for Audrey Hepburn as a cultural icon, we, as a culture, outed ourselves as the adolescent we really are.
But the consequences, not only for us and our future generations, but for the world, are grave, and we may already be in mid-air, like a cartoon character who runs off a cliff and is temporarily stranded without solid ground under their feet before falling to their doom below. We must embrace excellence, encourage self-discipline, reward creativity, and practice perseverance if we want to remain a world leader. All great civilizations have a natural life span, but 250 years is not long enough to make an impact of historical significance. If we want to remain at the forefront of world policy, we must do better.
I have nothing against JK Rowling, but it says a lot about the state of the world when Harry Potter is a runaway best seller and To Kill A Mockingbird is required reading only in English class. The time is now to confront our difficulties and embrace the painful, but necessary changes that will bring us forward into a brighter future.
