Even if during high school students are taught many of these books (or liberal arts and great literature in general) there is no guarantee that this will result in better educated young adults.
I understand and appreciate your perspective.
Life seldom comes with any guarantees but a student who has read and wrestled with great literature and has experienced great art and music will be de facto better educated than his or her peers whose education was bereft of such. While a student through lack of ability or effort may not be well educated, he or she will be better educated having been exposed to great material than the student who has not.
I think that high school should mainly teach how to think (by oneself, of course).
I think you mean “to think for one’s self.” I agree that students should be taught to think for themselves by which I mean to develop the intellectual horsepower to avoid being led around by their intellectual noses and manipulated through propaganda, shallow analysis, advertising, emotional manipulation, political parties and politicians and the latest faddish cultural sensibilities. It is the rare individual who is capable of learning to think critically without an objective tutor to sharply challenge the student’s thinking–especially challenging underlying and often unrecognized presuppositions and a priori assumptions and to help students recognize confirmation bias, etc.
Learning to think requires good material with which to wrestle and ponder. Critical thinking can not take place in an intellectual vacuum or with the equivalent of junk food. Critical thinking requires something substantive to think about. Like a chef in training, good intellectual ingredients (content) are needed upon which the chef can practice his or her skill. Great books provide the raw ingredients for developing critical thinking skills and good teachers train students in intellectual “culinary skills”.
It can also reflect arrogance (I’m NOT saying this of you–I’m making a general point) when we assume that we can come to our own conclusions without the aide of great thinkers before us. I most often see this in what has been called chronological arrogance meaning that what is contemporary is assumed to be better than what came before or which assumes that people today are wiser and smarter than those of the past. It is a form of historical snobbism. We are not necessarily smarter or wiser than those who came before. We may know more “technical stuff”, i.e., we advance scientifically and technically and in some areas culturally, but we can be and often are less wise and less understanding than those who came before–especially those who have bequeathed to us great literature, art, and political principles of governance. We can also decline culturally.
All of that to say that giving our students the gift of great material upon which to develop critical thinking skills and upon which to form their moral understanding and sensibilities is indispensable to a good education–hence the value of Great books and art. A focus on mere careerism devalues and undermines this great and essential effort.
I agree with you (of course we are talking about someone’s education, that requires a teacher that… teaches, since explaining - and learning - why a masterpiece is a masterpiece is part of experiencing it).
Of course I do should always double check when writing in English.
Indeed, I’d say that no one can think without the aide of others (great thinkers before us for sure, but more in general smart people, that can give us other perspectives on any kind of matter).
Sorry if I lower the level here with my book . I’m currently reading „Star Wars: Ahsoka“ as I had recently finally finished the Clone Wars series .
I‘m not a great reader at all but I got myself an iPad mini for Christmas and try to put it in use with reading … and hopefully I can motivate myself enough with a light Star Wars story? But so far this hasn’t been overly successful .
Currently I’m reading Finna by Nino Cipri, which is a short book that’s about a customer getting lost in a wormhole in an IKEA-like store and two employees (who have recently broken up with each other) having to locate the customer.
Well for what it is worth, which may not be much, I think Star Wars is awesome. I admit I’ve only seen the movies, never read the books but if past experience is any indication, the book versions tend to be even better. I found that to be true of the The Lord of the Rings. Love the movies but the books are even better!
The great American baseball player Babe Ruth held two records in his day. He hit 714 home runs, and struck out 1,330 times. He said, “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game”
Don’t worry about not being a great reader. Just keep “playing the game”.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, a book I’ve been meaning to read for many years. I found a nice version of it at Standard Ebooks, which I highly recommend if you’re looking for well-produced public domain ebooks. They’re all free. I’ve got about 60 of them on my Kobo, waiting to be read.
How to Read A Book by the aforementioned Mortimer Adler. Adler was a “co-worker” of mine at the Encyclopaedia Britannica. (He was chairman of the board of editors; I was a copy editor. I believe I saw him in the flesh once during my five years there.)
To quote Terry Pratchett, from what I consider to be a philosophically-saturated volume (even though it’s a kid’s book):
“There’s some things we can’t think because we don’t know the words.”
and particularly the ending of this wonderful dialogue:
“How many books are there?" said Masklin.
“Hundreds! Thousands!”
“Do you know what they’re all about?”
Gurder looked at him blankly. “Do you know what you’re saying?” he said.
“No. But I want to find out.”
“They’re about everything! You’d never believe it! They’re full of words even I don’t understand!”
“Can you find a book which tells you how to understand words you don’t understand?” said Masklin.
Gurder hesitated. “It’s an intriguing thought,” he said.
I’m a firm believer that there are thoughts we can’t even think if we haven’t been primed with some of the pre-work, knowledge-wise. And it’s both (a) amazing how much stuff bounces around in our head before it finally latches onto something, and (b) the bizarre circumstances that can cause that “latching”.
It’s also amazing how much stuff we remember, without ever actually remembering where we remember it from…if that makes sense.
I actually asked a junior high English teacher why we always had to read “the classics”. He responded that he figured he’d expose us to the good stuff, and we’d find the junk for ourselves later on.
Incidentally, I recommend the entire Bromeliad trilogy from Pratchett (Truckers, Diggers, Wings - in that order, although Diggers & Wings are parallel books). They’re humor for a YA audience, but for an adult they’re quick reading, comedic gold, and as philosophically useful as a YA humor series could ever possibly be expected to be.
The thread is “What ARE you reading”, not “What SHOULD YOU BE reading”. It’s very hard to answer what amounts to a pure opinion question incorrectly - you’re fine!
FWIW my favorite Star Wars stuff was the Thrawn trilogy. Lots of interesting stuff from the Imperial side that covers the material after Return Of The Jedi, and very, very well-written.
If you’re into light fantasy and want something that’s both fun to read and pretty easy to get through, note my recommendation to @Bmosbacker above of the Bromeliad Trilogy by Pratchett.
I think Star Wars can be very hit or miss, as the books are by different authors, targeted at different age groups, and much more of a mixed bag overall.
Also on my to re-read list: books by Kobi Yamada.
I love these books! They fill me with hope. I’ve gifted them many times over, to people for their kids, and to adults.
Thank you for the motivation and recommendations, I saved them for later . I thought Star Wars could be an easy entry as I like the franchise, but you are probably right about the different qualities of the books by different authors .
should always double check when writing in English.
Thanks for the great response.
. I’m currently reading „Star Wars: Ahsoka“ as I had recently finally finished the Clone Wars series 
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