Shattered Knowledge — The Consequences of Specialized Education

In our e-book we speak of the importance of “integral education,” which is “education that leads to whole truth and complete ‘beingness.’”

It extends far beyond technical knowledge and specialized expertise. It explores human nature and seeks to answer such questions as, “Who are we? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? What should our ideals be and how can I achieve them?”

Not only is such an education whole in scope and methodology, but also its core purpose is to develop
whole individuals — in other words, social leaders. Another term for it is liberal arts education.

In contrast, most modern education has become disconnected from such meaningful questions and is specialized to the point of losing the original values and purposes of education.

“Man is not a farmer, or a professor, or an engineer, but he is all. Man is priest, and scholar, and statesman, and producer, and soldier. In the divided or social state, these functions are parceled out to individuals, each of whom aims to do his stint of the joint work, whilst each other performs his…The state of society is one in which the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many walking monsters — a good finger, a neck, a stomach, an elbow, but never a man.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson in The American Scholar

An integral, liberal education is based on being mentored in the great classics from all facets of the human experience, such as history, literature, philosophy, political philosophy, economics, business, family, government and constitutional law, theology, psychology, mathematics, science, language, international relations, and public policy.

Such an education teaches students how to think, rather than training them what to think. It provides deep insights into human nature. It instills virtue and requires self-discipline. It is a lifelong process, rather than a short phase of youth.

Take time to absorb the following video. It’s somewhat lengthy, but well worth watching. It explores the importance of liberal arts education and the consequences of specialization.

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Stephen Palmer is a marketing consultant and persuasive writer with KGaps Consulting, a co-founder of The Center for Social Leadership, and the New York Times best-selling co-author of Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity.

He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela. Stephen and Karina blog about their magical life on Palmer Journeys.

Connect With Stephen:

Email: spalmer [at] kgaps [dot] com