Critical What?

More and more college degrees are becoming something like a glorified high school diploma. A lot of people have them, acquiring them only requires going through the motions, and they aren’t quite prestigious enough to attain the jobs we were once told required them. The education market has been flooded and basic economics have kicked in. Abundance tends to decrease quality. College graduate literacy is on the decline and the number of unemployed graduates has recently reached record highs.

Many of these graduates have been dubbed “boomerang kids.” Research shows that 40 percent of 2008 college graduates moved back in with mom and dad. The trainings wheels never completely shed off. Which makes me wonder, how much better is a college degree than a high school diploma? Obviously there are some specialized degrees, but those are often times a requirement for further schooling.

A solution comes to mind, drop the idea that school equals education. Education deals more with critical thinking, which cannot be taught, but it also cannot be learned if it is never exposed as an option. Critical thinking is more of a choice, but it has been made an unconventional choice. Not making the choice to think critically leads to misinterpretation of information, regardless of its source. Thinking critically is what allows individuals to develop, opposed to falling into a stagnant pool of collective minds. How critical can critical thinking be when all it takes is looking within for answers? It’s a sure source, and it’s unique for all of us.