In his book Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, Michael S. Roth says that education leads to overcoming blindness towards others and how they think and feel. He claims that a liberal education pushes people to think more about people, past the typical “what can this person do for me?” thoughts that are what drive most motives. Roth states that “members of an educated citizenry… are better able to recognize and overcome our distance from… one another” (6). An education beyond that which is supplied to us in high school teaches students to think critically about all areas of life, which in turn arguably makes the student more aware of how other people experience the world. While students can learn about the views of others through
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It might be true that liberal education can teach us this, but it does not mean that we will apply this knowledge outside of the classroom like Roth seems to think we will. To me, overcoming blindness towards others would mean that every person I met would have to be treated with respect, if for no other reason than that I am aware of the fact that they have their own story that deserves telling just as much as mine. Roth, however, seems to think that overcoming blindness simply means understanding that different people have different ideas that they can teach …show more content…
Two of the more propionate examples in history that could have been avoided with an open mind towards everyone are the holocaust and slavery. School teaches us that these were both very low points in human history and that we should do everything in our power to prevent them from reoccurring. We also know that they were both incidences in which people believed one group of people was better than another because of something they could not control. Liberal education teaches us that other people have different perspectives that we should take into account, if only to further our own knowledge. Roth claims that this liberal education is all that is needed to overcome blindness and begin treating others as they truly are: humans, equals to
It might be true that liberal education can teach us this, but it does not mean that we will apply this knowledge outside of the classroom like Roth seems to think we will. To me, overcoming blindness towards others would mean that every person I met would have to be treated with respect, if for no other reason than that I am aware of the fact that they have their own story that deserves telling just as much as mine. Roth, however, seems to think that overcoming blindness simply means understanding that different people have different ideas that they can teach …show more content…
Two of the more propionate examples in history that could have been avoided with an open mind towards everyone are the holocaust and slavery. School teaches us that these were both very low points in human history and that we should do everything in our power to prevent them from reoccurring. We also know that they were both incidences in which people believed one group of people was better than another because of something they could not control. Liberal education teaches us that other people have different perspectives that we should take into account, if only to further our own knowledge. Roth claims that this liberal education is all that is needed to overcome blindness and begin treating others as they truly are: humans, equals to