Hacker News Books

"Excellent Sheep"[1] by William Deresiewicz is a great read on this topic.

Also, his "Solitude and Leadership"[2] talk at West Point in 2009, which probably inspired to write the book.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Excellent-Sheep-Miseducation-American...

[2] https://theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/

Recently read:

* “Disciplined Minds” by Jeff Schmidt. A mind-opening book that shows how both academia and business select for conformity.

* “Go It Alone: The Streetwise Secrets of Self Employment” by Geoff Burch. Great read, witty and savvy author.

* “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber.

* “Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life” by William Deresiewicz.

I've taught at two colleges and based on my (purely) anecdotal experiences and attention to the climate, I'd say that the number of students and faculty interested in stifling or censoring ideas is small but also very, very noisy. They also have no sense of humor and college administrators as a group have no sense of humor or perspective, and they're chronically worried about accusations of indifference or insensitivity (which are themselves as good as convictions). There is a strong economic and career incentive for administrators to take everything seriously and to keep their heads down as much as possible.

Brew this up and one gets a majority of students who are reasonable but a small minority who drive all the discourse.

I don't teach at Yale and have never taught at Yale or schools with similar cultures, so I can't speak to the environment there, but William Deresiewicz did, and his book Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life came out of that and I recommend it. His book A Jane Austen Education (http://jakeseliger.com/tag/a-jane-austen-education-how-six-n...) is also very good, even for someone like me who does not love Jane Austen.

Edit: Also, almost all of the censorship calls and nasty behavior / comments came from students on the left. Vox's "I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me" (http://www.vox.com/2015/6/3/8706323/college-professor-afraid) is congruent with my experiences.

Oh what a surprise, the guy in charge of this “idea”, Andrew Anker (tagged in press release), went to a private boarding school in Connecticut that has an endowment of $500 million.

For anyone wondering why I’m pointing this out, it’s not that I’m anti-intellectual but just a vague sense that the more prestigious one’s education the greater threat to society / less competent they seem to be.

It is a generalization, but it comes specifically from this book:

Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life https://www.amazon.com/dp/1476702721

EDIT: Anker was a board member of Pando, a site of some integrity and which chose to switch to the subscription model (good choice), so want to mention that at least. Thanks for supporting them Anker, sorry you had to go over 100% to the dark side though.