Why is education useless

Author: Daniel Cottenam (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Education is useless because it breaks our common sense, it makes us lose things beyond humanity, it makes our hearts numb, and it makes us arrogant and dizzy with pride. Long ago, bookish people have been objects of suspicion and contempt, and it may be even more severe in the United States in the past 20 years. For example, education critics use Martin Heidegger's Nazism to prove that highly educated people are heartless; they think academia is. It seems there are always more reasons to tear down the ivory tower than praise it. The uselessness of education, especially the uselessness of the humanities, is a highly debated topic in the history of Western culture. This book is filled with wisdom, and the writing is extremely precise. By focusing on the essence of things like humanity, love, beauty, identity, and delving into topics such as academic scandals, identity politics, multiculturalism, and the corporatization of academia, it thoroughly examines those who criticize knowledge. Daniel Cottenam argues that the hostility toward education cannot be simply seen as a reaction of barbarism, stupidity, and nihilism, and he explains the above topics from a completely new perspective, making his arguments easy to understand for those outside the academic circle. As a work on cultural debates and analysis, Why Education Is Useless fully demonstrates the author's talent and is also highly thought-provoking. The book extensively cites materials from literature, philosophy, art, film, and other fields, starting with the argument that "the hostility toward education is a highly complex phenomenon in the history and contemporary life of the United States." According to Cottenam's view, if we want to understand the manifestations of this hostile attitude and bravely face them, then we must understand the enduring charm of this antagonism.