The BIG problem: Unity of knowledge

Such thinkers as Emerson, at the dawn of the "American Renaissance", recognized that society was darting about hither and yon without rhyme or reason. Vocational specialization was in the ascendancy and American Universities were failing in their responsibilities.Hutchins noted that "If any common program is impossible, if there is no such thing as an education that everybody must have, then we must admit that any community is impossible." Hutchins surmised that unity of knowledge is a bridge over an abyss of social morality and stated that "We see now that we need more learning, more real learning, for everybody."

"What makes a conversation great rather than little?" Asks author Ernest Becker in his book "Beyond Alienation"; "it asks the big questions…instead we ask the little questions, the questions that keep our daily work going in its prescribed ruts, the questions that look out for tomorrow by automatically following the routine of the day, by accepting uncritically the world as we find it, and by not caring too strongly what we are really doing in it, or are supposed to be doing."