General Discussion

The biggest one is that you can lead a horse to water, but education is a personal choice. Many choose functional ignorance instead. For example, close to 85% of Americans report that they choose not read outside of work requirements. And don't get me started about the Stupidity Box broadcasting group-think into peoples' lives from cradle to grave.

IMO the greatest failure of our modern American educational system is its relative silence about anti-intellectualism and willful stupidity. Ignorance should be embarrassing, instead of distinguishing folks we'd like to have a beer with or elect to government office. Educators have long pondered whether "education is best for everyone" driven largely by the apparent distaste many students have for their own self improvement and the extents they will pursue to cheat themselves of it. Mentors cannot zip open their heads and deposit knowledge and wisdom inside-- students bring their own intellectual standards to the classroom and unless educators can convince them otherwise, many hold high standards in low regard. We can lead them to the library, but we cannot make them read. This is a social problem, IMO, not a personal one, although that's essentially how it ends up for the individuals who have that issue. By the time students begin school in earnest, the damage is already done and is often irreparable.