Education for a Life Well-Lived

While engaged in our own education odysseys, many of us have also been following that of EconTalk host Russ Roberts as well, especially as he’s moved to take on the presidency at Shalem College.

In this episode, jointly released with our friends at The Curious Task podcast, Russ gets interviewed by Alex Aragona. Among the questions raised are what’s wrong with education today? What does a good education look like? What does an educated person look like? Roberts is afraid that education today is not preparing students to ask, what is a life well lived? We’d like to hear your thoughts on these and any of the questions below. Please help us continue this important conversation.

1- How does Roberts define (good) education, and to what extent does this align with your own definition? What is the relationship of skills or knowledge to education? Of opinion?

2- How do the liberal arts and STEM outlooks on education compare? How would you describe a liberal education? To what extent is the sort of deep understanding Roberts is talking about possible in STEM fields? (It may help to  recall his example of the concept of “average.”)

3- What do you think are the biggest problems with our current education system? How might these problems best be addressed?

4- What role will technology play in the future of education? Is there more or less hope for improvement than in the dawn of the digital age, and why?

5- Aragona asks Russ to suggest the most important takeaway he hopes listeners will get from this conversation. What was yours?