lordjeebus

I am an undergrad at a US university well-known for its academic reputation.

My understanding of the concept of the liberal-arts college education is that through exposure to different fields of thought and different ways of thinking -- in both readings and discussion with fellow students -- one can develop a certain way of thinking about things, developing knowledge, and achieve a higher level of understanding issues through the sharing and synthesis of opinions. This is the theory of a liberal arts education.

In practice, most of my fellow students are not here for the liberal arts education. The main concerns are earning an impressive degree and cultivating an impressive GPA. The main secondary concern is kissing ass to earn nice letters of recommendation for grad/professional school admissions. What happens often in classes, then, is that most people are interested not in reaching new levels of understanding, but in impressing one's professor and peers. Instead of debate, we have people spewing irrelevant facts and stating the obvious, to prove to the professor that they are "participating" and deserve a good grade. There are certainly particular moments and classes where we have productive and lively discussion, but in general people are more concerned with their transcripts than their minds.

Politically, most people hold the same political beliefs. However, regardless of the political beliefs people hold, most people seem to have passionate feelings about issues they really know little about. Political discourse is often worthless because people here are so uninformed -- both liberals and conservatives. As an example, there was a recent widespread campaign against a particular piece of legislation. Flyers went up all over campus, making 4 or 5 claims about the legislation as reasons to reject it. I looked up the proposed legislation online and saw that of those claims, all but 1 were taken into account in the legislation -- the flyers were mostly incorrect. But try telling this to someone and they think you're crazy or evil.

Hence, I am disillusioned by the American liberal arts experience. In contrast, I find that the TFP embodies the ideals of this experience that my university has lost. People discuss and debate things that interest them, consider the opinions of others, and are referred to relevant facts when important. People discuss for the sake of discussion -- TFP has no grades, and most posters aren't posting to boost their post count.

I think that many people have intellectual drives. I just think that the liberal arts education ideal isn't working because college education is important for more than the experience -- people hiring graduates are interested in the reputation of your school and your grades as a measure of your intelligence, creativity, and work ethic. We need an outlet for our intellectual drives, and thanks to the shared interests of its members and high quality of moderation, the TFP can serve as that outlet for many people.

For those who attend or attended school in the US, do you share my experience, or is the situation better for you? Those outside the US -- how does your university system compare intellectually? What aspects of the TFP make it a superior intellectual experience? (or, if you do not find it superior to the university system, how come?) How could a university make incorporate the good aspects of the TFP?