I love the essay
as a means of expressing ideas and feelings with literary grace. My favorite essay is by Thomas H. Huxley
written in 1868. It is called “A liberal
education and how to get it.” Huxley reacted
against the trend then to educate young students by forcing them to learn
classical Latin and Greek, not so much for the ideas of those civilizations,
which he applauded, but to learn grammar and parse every sentence in ancient
texts. He drew an analogy to a game of chess. If the
careers and lives of our children depended on their ability to play chess, we
would spend sums of money for tutors to make them experts. There is, he claimed,
a game of life. It is called science. If
you are good at it a knowledge of science can enrich your life, provide new careers,
and even save your life. Remember that
in 1868, while there was an industrial revolution in full swing, but the germ
theory was still 20 years away. If you are ignorant of it or if you play it
poorly, you might lack control over your life and short-change your
career. Huxley singled out the new field
of evolution as a key component of this knowledge which every child should
learn, because without it they are vulnerable to becoming losers in the game of
life. For Huxley the liberal arts
included knowledge of world history, literature, philosophy, culture, the world’s
geography, and an understanding of the universe through science.
Almost 150 years
later we have few public schools that provide the type of liberal education that
Huxley proposed. A majority of K-12
students in the United States do not learn about evolution or find it labeled as
a controversial theory. Many private
schools teach Creationism and those public schools that are in “Bible Belt” states
(especially the south and Midwest) avoid the topic of evolution in their
biology courses to prevent angry parents from complaining and threatening their
employment. What science teaches will collide often with one religion or another. Christian scientists do not like their
students in public school to learn that there is a germ theory of infectious
diseases and oppose compulsory vaccination for highly lethal diseases. Jehovah’s Witnesses will object if their
students lean blood typing and how blood transfusions have saved millions of
lives. Those who believe in a literal
interpretation of the Book of Genesis will argue that geologists have some
error in method in dating ancient rocks, whether they use radioactive decay,
numbers of layers in a sedimentary rock formation, ratios of elements, or tree
rings. They will argue that the red shift
used by astronomers does not apply to dating a source of light if it gives
answers of more than 10,000 years. Even
worse, some teachers are intimidated in how they teach politically controversial
positions of science, including climate changes from global warming, regulation
of industries to prevent pollution, regulation of the chemicals placed in our
foods, regulation of medicines (prescription and over the counter) for
carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. Those with money and power can effectively
obscure issues yet act in good faith because they unknowingly accept
self-deception or wishful thinking as reality. I wonder what type of science was taught to
those legislators who deny evolution, the germ theory, global warming, the need
for regulating industrial pollutants, practicing conservation of natural resources,
radiation protection, or the importance of family planning. A liberal education is intended to equip
young people with the knowledge to be informed and effective citizens as well
as to be constructive critics of society’s failings. Is it not time we provide it?
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