Russ Roberts on Education

"The ideal education is less of a focus on information, and more on open inquiry; less worry about the right answers, and more concern for asking the right questions."

Russ Roberts

Russ Roberts, President of Shalem College in Jerusalem, was interviewed by Alex Aragona of The Curious Task podcast on the topic of education.  It was made available on EconTalk as well.  Where most of EconTalk is a back and forth discussion, this was question and answer.  Russ provides thoughtful answers and in-depth analysis regarding his views on education.  Too often in the modern world, education is somewhat passive as the student sits through a lecture and then takes a test.  He notably asks, "...of all the things you know, how many of them came from school?"  He admits that all his knowledge of calculus came from school, but most of what he knows has come from other sources, notably conversations.  Another interesting point was that a liberal education provides self-examination.

"If you don't study history and you don't study culture and you don't study literature and you don't study ideas, you won't understand how you came to be who you are."

This is an important insight.  A person is more than their genes.  Parents, country, culture, religion, and so forth have a profound impact on what you can achieve.  Not surprisingly, he quotes Socrates famous line, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Here is a deep dive into what it means to be educated and why it's important.  This covers some of the same ground as a recent discussion with Pano Kanelos, which makes a good companion for this episode.