Only The Educated Are Free

Engineering needs to right the imbalance between the vocational and the civic that exists in many parts of the profession. It troubles me because there are many things engineering does well, and some it does not. And one of the things it doesn't do well is democracy. No aptitude or connection to it - the worlds of Brunel, Euler and Bernoulli are far removed from the worlds of Rousseau, Hobbs and Rawls.

The sets of skills and aptitudes that led to success in one walk of life either do not carry over or are downright dysfunctional in another. The political world, with a focus on the ability to charm, convince, and enlist, keeps engineering and engineers to their own private reservation. Engineers like geometry, but the world of Burke and Johnson is the subtle interplay of interest and passion, reason and imagination.

Liberal learning - defined as learning that frees the mind - is normally found upon four general areas of education: natural sciences, mathematics, the humanities and the social sciences. Liberal learning implies free and broad inquiry with intellectual discipline and is foundational for many established professions. Engineering needs this balanced base of education.

Because liberal learning aims to free us from the constraints of ignorance, sectarianism, and myopia, it prizes curiosity and seeks to expand the boundaries of human knowledge. By its nature, therefore, liberal learning is global and pluralistic. It embraces the diversity of ideas and experiences that characterize the social, natural, and intellectual world. To acknowledge such diversity in all its forms is both an intellectual commitment and a social responsibility, for nothing less will equip us to understand our world and purse fruitful lives.

The ability to think, to learn and to express oneself both rigorously and creatively, the capacity to understand ideas and issues in context, the commitment to live in society, and the yearning for truth are fundamental features of our humanity. In centering education upon these qualities liberal learning is society's best investment in our shared future.