A Pernicious Convergence Is Overtaking Education

This article in The Atlantic contains much to cause concern, not just about out perpetual state of hyper political correctness (we'll leave that part to others to consider), but about the role education plays in a democratic, open society. Perhaps I should restate that as the role a liberal education plays in society, at least insofar as academics have typically defined the liberal arts. Through this lens, a key purpose of education, other than in vocational/technical programs, is to deliberately make students uncomfortable, to push them to consider ideas and perspectives beyond the familiar. It is through the intellectual stretch that dogma yields to reason (or is confirmed as more than mere dogma), and  students come to understand, to a degree, a bigger, wider world, warts and all. To shield students from images, words and ideas that might make them uncomfortable is to render the experience of becoming educated into a pablum unworthy of pursuit.What I see happening is the gradual convergence of two forces in American life: the above-mentioned political correctness in hyper-drive, and the increasing view of education at all levels as being about employability first and foremost. In practice, the employability imperative tends to push aside intellectual rigor much the same way that "teaching to the test" crowds out broader or more critical inquiry (see Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury cartoon from Sunday, August 16, 2015).Maybe discomfort isn't for everybody, but it should be part of getting a bachelor's degree or a high school diploma.