Twain had a point here. The problem with education is that there is a tendency to divide knowledge into specific disciplines. Educators don't approach a subject holistically, meaning that they don't catch connections between different issues and disciplines. The social sciences are subdivided into economics, sociology, political science etc., but the reality is that none of these disciplines can be learned without understanding the basic human motivations that drive us. I'll be honest, plenty of the stuff that I've learned in school have been forgotten. Some of the business courses I've taken taught me a few practical things, but most of the knowledge that I gained came from doing independent research and coming to my own conclusions on the issues. The purpose of an education is to make you think critically. A good professor is one that makes you think and wrestle with the issues, a bad one gives you a list of things to memorize for a test. You don't learn that way. The bottom line is that learning is your responsibility, schooling is there to point you in the right direction, but ideally it's a life long venture.
