Reply to How many people have read "Excellent Sheep" by William Deresiewicz and agree with his theory?

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Reply to "How many people have read "Excellent Sheep" by William Deresiewicz and agree with his theory?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I think his premise that "schools can teach people to think for themselves" is ironic.  I also think that he's tapped into a booming market for books that say what he's saying (live your truth and don't be another rat in the rat race!) that people working in rat race jobs read to placate themselves.

But I also do agree with him, to a certain extent.  There's too much pushing of computer science and testing and "practicality," which is unfortunate.  In college, there's more and more orientation around getting a job, and then making that job your life, which is unfortunate.  Pre-college, there's a lot of "striving" for outdated modes of validation (you have to do Mrs. Simpson's because it's"prestigious" [to who?], you have to do X and Y because it "looks good" [who says?]) and that puts too much pressure on kids and parents.  But there are also kids who realize this and look to work as police officers, social workers, and professors.  Or kids with a pre-professional bent who take time to read classic books, enjoy art museums, and feed their mind outside of the straight-and-narrow "practicality" track.  And parents like 11:34 and 11:47 PP who are taking a more zen approach.

So the problem is there, but those who want to solve it on their own are doing just fine.  Meanwhile, Bill Deresiewicz makes a pretty penny for his hand-wringing and tapping into a growing book market.  I applaud him for that.[/quote]

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