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Reading the World: Ideas that Matter by Michael Austin
“Reading the World: Ideas that matter” is an anthology comprising of works from the greatest thinkers worldwide. It seeks to offer a global perspective on issues such as Education, the Human nature and the mind, Arts, Language and Rhetoric, War and Peace, Science and government and Law and government. The book is edited by Michael Austin to foster an understanding by synchronizing the works to create a good flow. The essay particularly concentrates on the first chapter, Education, where the editor discusses various individuals that had insightful ideas on education. Austin uses assertions by different personalities to elucidate the issue of education and its importance in the society.
Through the ideas of John Henry Newman, the first part of the chapter argues that education is not literal as most people take it. It is a process that is not only intended to generate knowledge but also foster understanding thereby affecting other important parts of life, “It had to teach the body of knowledge and set of skills that while, not immediately applicable to any kind of work, were vital to the growth and development of human being” (Newman 3). I can back up this idea from my experiences at school specifically in college. Unlike earlier forms of education in such as the elementary and middle schools where education may be a bit confusing, I find that what I learn in college is far important from my growth and that it equips me to handle life’s challenges in general and not prepare me for any kind of job.

Further, through the assertions of Seneca, Austin argues that any study should aim at generating knowledge and not money, “I have no respect for any study whatsoever if its end is the making of money” (Seneca 14). A form of education that people undertake should ultimately be based on generating important knowledge. Subsequently, the knowledge can assist its beneficiaries in various aspects of life including the social and economic ones. Therefore, education that is only intended for economic gains is set to fail as its priorities are misplaced. True to this idea, education holds a sentimental value to me. I find that studying is important as it helps me generate important intercommunication skills, etiquette, influence my decision making as well as enables me to cope with different situations. Considering such factors, the author is right to assert that education’s main purpose is not economic gain.
The chapter also argues that the process of education is not desirable at all times. For instance, he uses the arguments of prominent individuals including Frederick Douglass, Rabindranath Tagore, and Richard Feynman to develop his argument that education should be objective for it to argue its objectives. Tagore particularly argues that non-objective education is not helpful to the students and only plunges them into misery “… the child’s life is plunged to the education factory, lifeless, colorless, and dissociated from the context of universe…” (Tagore 40). Therefore the teachers should ensure that they teach only the relevant information to students and package it in an interesting way to entice the beneficiaries. From a personal experience, I know that studying can be boring if not packaged in a way that will interest the students. For instance, some learning activities such as reading and comprehension may look like a punishment to students instead of an opportunity to learn helpful information and should, therefore, be packaged in a way that students will find them interesting and beneficial.
Ultimately, the book manages to pass through important information on the pertinent issues it tackles. The different perspectives of education as mentioned by the various thinkers used in the text bring out a clear picture of what education should be. Collectively, the three quotes are convincing that education should not equip students with knowledge and skills to handle all life challenges, focus on growth and development instead of economic gains and be packaged in such a way that the students derive interest and satisfaction in learning.
Works Cited
Newman, John H. “Education.” Reading the World: Ideas That Matter, 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2015, pp. 3-4.
Seneca. “Education.” Reading the World: Ideas That Matter, 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2015, pp. 13-20.
Tagore, Rabindranath. “Education.” Reading the World: Ideas That Matter, 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2015, pp. 40-45.