Civics Test the College Kids all Failed

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

Nonsense. Financial panics come and are then forgotten. The Federalist Papers will endure forever.

But seriously. The test is designed to reveal one's knowledge of civics. No one claimed it was a test of intelligence. Although, there are many questions that could be answered by applying a liitle common sense. Others, like the one where you had to know that Sumter, Gettysburg, Appomattox was the example in the correct order reveal wether or not you know anything about the Civil War. I think a Harvard graduate should know enough about U.S. history to answer that question. They should know enough about finance to answer the treasury bond question. Etc. Etc. Apparently many of them do not. Ross Douthat has a great book called Privilege that exposes a lot of what goes on up there. Basically everybody that shows up for class gets an A or B. There are many genuinely gifted people, but most of them are kind of unctious over-achievers of the Al Gore variety. That was a revelation to me. I assumed that they were all unusually bright. I guess they are compared to the other schools. Which is sort of like being the best hockey player on Fiji.

Well, you say that a Harvard graduate should know enough about the civil war to answer that question, but why? Why do people need to know that? I'm interested to hear a valid reason other than "I just think you should know this stuff."

I just can't come off the fact that employers don't give a crap whether you can name the civil war battles. They care if you can negotiate contracts, or strike deals, or analyze financial statements, or determine how to advertise to 18-45 year olds, or defend a company in the courtroom from lawsuits.

College is intended to be preparation for your next step, whether that step be to law school, med school, or into the business world. The reason Harvard kids get an average of 69 is because Harvard doesn't waste its time teaching kids about the civil war. They spend their time training them to think critically and solve problems in the workplace. That's why Harvard grads get paid so dang much.