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heidilreads's review against another edition
4.0
I think a lot of what the author says are the reasons my parents felt strongly that I attend a liberal arts program and also the values my parents hold as evidenced by the way they raised me. Learning a breadth of information challenges the learner to develop different ways of solving problems... However, the one thing I would say that liberal arts didn't push me to do is to succeed at failing and continue to reverse that failure into a learned lesson.
musicsaves's review against another edition
4.0
FIRST LINE REVIEW: "If you want to live a good life these days, you know what you're supposed to do." I've always like Zakaria's writing and reporting. This very brief response to recent attacks on liberal education help clarify to reasons why we still need the liberal arts for college students (and beyond). Though I didn't learn anything new, he writes clearly and (most importantly) backs up his arguments with lots of data.
snoopysnoopy's review against another edition
4.0
Best nonfiction book I've read all year.
Thank you Fareed Zakaria, for restoring my faith in the humanities (meaning the academic field, although, he DOES also argues for humankind :)
Thank you Fareed Zakaria, for restoring my faith in the humanities (meaning the academic field, although, he DOES also argues for humankind :)
bweaver1962's review against another edition
5.0
The last chapter especially is worth the read. It is called "In Defense of Today's Youth"
spitzig's review against another edition
3.0
Eh. It was well written. I agree with the idea. a broad education is important.
I don't use my BS degree at work, but the electives like philosophy and religion I took will probably stay with me. Of course, I wasn't forced to take those specifically and I've continued to expand my knowledge of them.
Learning to express oneself, learning about the world, and improving how one thinks are all important in most jobs and in generally in life. A technical degree shouldn't be totally focused on a job. Liberal arts degrees should be broad enough to include some science classes-science is kind of basic to how the world works.
I don't use my BS degree at work, but the electives like philosophy and religion I took will probably stay with me. Of course, I wasn't forced to take those specifically and I've continued to expand my knowledge of them.
Learning to express oneself, learning about the world, and improving how one thinks are all important in most jobs and in generally in life. A technical degree shouldn't be totally focused on a job. Liberal arts degrees should be broad enough to include some science classes-science is kind of basic to how the world works.
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
A small, efficient book that I think does a great job of explaining why a liberal education is far from an impractical luxury today. Goes a little off the rails near the end as Zakaria jumps from topic to topic.