Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-05-23
EDUCATION AND IMPORTATION.

Arc college graduates amazingly ignorant: Thomas
a EDISON thinks they are. A test which he has used
IN support of this opinion in a list of lac questions re-
laung to things which he believes college men should
Know and which, it is apparent from the answers, many
OF them do not know. Among the questions are these:
Where are condors found? What is the heaviest
wood? Where are the rainless districts' At what place
is the land farthest below the sea level. :?
These are typical of the entire list. The questions
relate to facts most Of which have at one time or another
come to the attention of most educated people. and yet
FEW of those to whom they were Observation-Disclosures
graduates-were able to pass a crcditable examination
in them. Therefore, concludes Mr.. Edison, modern edu-
cation is \ good deal of a sham.
Mr.. Edison is a genius. Unlike some other Eentuses.
ne is a very capable and a very useful man. But he is
neither a scholar himself nor a competent Judge Of schol-
arship In Others. His lie has been a very active one.
His temperament and his environment have led him to
asslmilate a vast number of facts. He needs facts in his
business, immense numbers of them. He has gathered
them from the four corners of the earth, and he has
sorted them and filed them away where he can lay his
hand on them when he wants them. Without the ability
to do this he would not have become the inventive genius
that he is. Therefore he emphasizes facts, the power to
retain them and the power to recall them.
The facts which have aided Edison in his working
Of wonders would have been just 50 much junk to the
average person. Some knowledge of facts is necessary
in the scheme OF life, but there are millions of facts about
which even. Edison knows nothing, and about which he
needs to know nothing. The knowledge Of principles is
altimportant. and knowledge of where to find facts is
a necessary part of ones equipment. The student, in
his study of principles, necessarily acquires knowledge
of a good many facts. and in examining him as to his
qualifications it is well enough to pay some attention to
the facts with which he is acquainted. His knowledge
OF this or that fact may not be important, but there are
facts Of which he could scarcely fail to acquire some
knowledge If he had given proper attention to the study
Of the principles the understanding of which is indis>
pensahle in a real education.
The facts which Mr.. Edison makes the basis Of his
QUESTIONABLE are of the sort that are learned. and for
gotten. They are forgotten because the average person
has no need for them. Retention Of them does no harm;
neither does it do any good. The person who has been
properly trained knows where to find this information
If he media It and knowle0Ye ~ them furnjRhee ~ index
Of the scholarship or understanding or mental qualities
of the individual. There are in the world occasional
exceptions. like Mr.. Edison. But we believe it to be the
rule that the individual who gives evidence Of having the
greatest collection Of miscellaneous and unrelated in
formation is the least able to make use OF the information
which he has. -a a-4. ..a.