I agree with the general consensus of the responses to this Colloquy that intellectual curiosity is sadly lacking from much of university life, but I find it far too simplistic to blame it exclusively on a new generation of unfocused students or the commodification of higher education. Intellectual curiosity is viewed with suspicion if not downright hostility at all levels and in all sectors of society for a variety of reasons. We decry the poor education and lack of standards offered by our public schools, and yet our national sense of morality and knee-jerk values lead us to limit our children's access to information through the banning of books, restrictions on topics of classroom discussion, limitations on access to certain kinds of information, etc. I take as anecdotal evidence of their lack of intellectual engagement, much less curiosity, the deplorable condition and reception of the arts.
Pulp fiction dominates best-seller lists.
Blockbuster exhibitions of crowd-pleasing art displace shows that require some thought or demand some kind of engagement from viewers. Rather than thinking through the issues raised by film, literature, and art, we d rather make them go away by either banning them outright, cutting their funding, or simply ignoring them. I don t want to appear to deny the pleasures and benefits of escapism, but it seems clear to me that the American public simply does not want to be challenged. Yes, such reasons suggest that we as a society have become far more concerned with the bottom line of everything as well as the easy payoff. Everybody wants to be a millionaire, and it doesn t matter that the questions required to get there are too easy.