"A Good Education Has Never Been More Important"

The photo is one I found on the internet, which I thought pertinent to the subject of this essay.

It is never fun watching markets dissolve, but I still believe that Israel and the U.S., in confronting Iran, have done the right thing, especially as we have been joined by most of the Arab states. With their continued work on an atomic weapon and with missiles capable of hitting Diego Garcia 2500 miles away, that means Iran could as easily hit Vienna or Athens. They do represent a threat to world peace. They need to be stopped.

 

This essay represents something I have been thinking of for some time.

 

Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“A Good Education Has Never Been More Important”

March 28, 2026

 

“The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.”

                                                                                                                Attributed to Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977)

                                                                                                                Former Chancellor & President, University of Chicago

 

There is an old Chinese proverb that is appropriate in this age of AI, increased dependency on government, wokeism, and at a time when education needs a re-boot: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” While we all are dependent on others, especially for love and companionship, a free individual is not one dependent on the state except in the case of dire and exceptional need. Reason and soundness must replace foolish ignorance.

 

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It is not simply artificial intelligence that makes our age unique and so badly in need of the ability to reason logically and to think independently, it is also the fact that extremism has kidnapped our politics, and that ignorance and foolishness have laid waste to common sense and made our cultural heritage something to shun rather than to celebrate. 

 

If Mark Ziuckerberg needs a robotic assistant, what about us? Do we need some piece of machinery to remind us to send flowers on Mother’s Day, book lunch on Tuesday, and reply to this morning’s e-mails? That might simplify our lives, but are not personal connection and human empathy important? How much of our personal lives do we want to lay off on a piece of software that might be hackable? Will our AI assistant, to get in our good graces, heap false praise on what we have done or are about to do? Or will it provide the analytic criticism needed to improve our performance? Efficiency without empathy does not necessarily lead to a happy life. Will we lose our ability to sense emotion and to think critically if we rely on artificial intelligence? These are questions best considered when one has read widely.

 

Without a classical liberal arts education that includes biology, we are at risk of accepting as fact that men can be woman (or vice versa) if they so choose – that one’s sex is not a matter of science but of choice. Consider who benefits from such allegations. It is not only certain male athletes, but clinics willing to perform gender-affirming surgeries. Skepticism is a bi-product of a good education. Remember how Paul Ehrlich amassed a fortune, stating as fact that millions would die because of a planet unable to feed its population. In the years since 1968, when The Population Bomb was published (and which sold over two million copies in its first three years), the world population has more than doubled, while the percent of the population suffering from hunger has declined. Millions of people accepted his conclusions without questioning.

 

And think of climate wars. It was in elementary school that we were first taught of how Earth had warmed and cooled over the millennia – from the Tyrannosaurus Rex during the Cretaceous Period to the Wooly Mammoth during the Pleistocene Epoch. That is not to say we can ignore our environment or changes in climate. The Earth does not sit still, and man has a responsibility to all forms of life and to the planet he lives on. Yet we are scolded by supercilious tree-huggers if we drive a gas-powered vehicle, use more than a gallon of water to flush the toilet, or fail to re-cycle the plastic yogurt cover. Personally, I am conscious of the environment and I re-cycle, but I don’t like to be scolded by a bigot who scoots off in his private jet, or on their 200-foot yacht. A good education teaches one to differentiate between a policy based on facts and prescriptions based on ideologies.

 

Political extremism has become ubiquitous. In both parties, extremists control the message. A few minutes spent listening to a speech by President Trump or a response by Senator Chuck Schumer reminds one of the lament that starts Rudyard Kipling’s Ballad: “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” The one exception to this polarization appears to be the Supreme Court – the only adult branch of government. Thus far in the 2025-26 term, which began in October 2025, the Court has released 20 opinions, five of which were 9-0 decisions. If Ketanji Brown Jackson and Clarence Thomas can agree 25% of the time, why can’t Congress?

 

Over the long-term extremism never succeeds – there are simply not enough extremists. But we also know from Iran that extremists in government can persevere for many years. Forty-seven years of rule by fanatic mullahs have caused millions to suffer and tens-of-thousands to die. It is the study of history that provides perspective. In a recent issue of The Spectator – in an article titled “Those Who Believe in Liberalism Must Now Fight For It” – Adrian Wooldridge wrote: “The best resource we have in preventing a return to the 1930s is the memory of the 1930s.” The best way to understand the present is to read of the past.

 

None of us can predict the future. Change is coming, but that has always been true. The best way to deal with the world we face is with a good education – whether its change wrought by AI, dealing with (sometimes well-intentioned but always misplaced) wokeism, or political extremism. Sadly our public schools, especially those in inner cities, are governed by unions more interested in growing membership than in the students they are supposed to educate, and too many of our universities, with costs having risen about three times the rate of inflation over the past fifty years, are more focused on diversity than on excellence. 

 

A good education is a life-long pursuit, and it is the encouragement of that, as Mr. Hutchins is quoted in the epigraph, which should be the job of schools, universities and parents. We should never stop learning. An educated individual understands the risks of open borders, as well as the primacy of legal immigration. She or he realizes and perils of mercantilism and socialism, while recognizing the advantages of capitalism. They know the differences between equality and equity, and between diversity and assimilation. Years ago Sy Syms developed his iconic marketing slogan: “An educated consumer is our best customer.” An educated electorate is the best defense of democracy.

 

My argument in favor of education is not because I believe a university degree will assure a higher paying job. It may or may not. It is because I believe a liberal arts education will make one a more informed citizen, one better able to navigate disruption caused by technology or anything else, to make sense of polarized political views, and to appreciate our history, our form of government, and our cultural heritage.

Review - "Raising Hare," Chloe Dalton

 This is a delightful book to read on early spring days when nature is re-awakening.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Burrowing into Books

Raising Hare, Chloe Dalton

March 21, 2026

 

“...I startled hares that ran and leapt, cresting the tops of the

grass with a smooth flowing motion, dolphins of the meadow.”

                                                                                                                                Raising Hare, Chloe Dalton

 

Ms. Dalton’s story, for which she won the 2025 Wainwright Prize (awarded for nature, conservation and environment writing), tells of her growing awareness of the natural world. She had spent ten years as a writer, political adviser and foreign policy specialist, working in Parliament and at the Foreign Commonwealth Office. While she lived in London, she also owned a renovated stone barn in the English countryside as a weekend place.

 

It was in February 2021, while she was living in and working out of her rural retreat due to the Pandemic that she found a week-old leveret, a baby hare. She picked it up. After checking with a local conservationist, and her sister who owns a small farm and who offered advice on feeding, she decided to keep the palm-sized leveret. Her story is one of discovery, not simply of how she raised the hare in such a way it would not become domesticated, but also of Ms. Dalton’s encounter with many aspects of nature – the symbiosis between prey and predator, the instinct of motherhood that transcends species, and the plant life that provides food and protection.

 

She appreciates the complexities of man: his dreams, his innovative skills, and his desire to improve his condition. But she worries how those often conflicted with nature and wildlife: “The competing imperatives of feeding the nation and protecting the environment are still unreconciled.” Raising the hare gave her a perspective on life unavailable on the pavements of London or in the hallways of Parliament.

 

Because of her wish that the hare should return to the wild, it was never given a name, despite the lapse of two and more years during which the hare would come and go from her home. It was only when the hare gave birth that she learned its sex.

 

In her last chapter she reflects on what she learned from the hare – to appreciate the world around her, to “cherish the days she [the hare] has given me of her own free will.” As to the fate of the hare, she does not know. It would sometime leave for a few days, only to return for a short visit. Hares generally live only three to five years in the wild. But Ms. Dalton ends her story poignantly: “I will remember her leaving, but will know that before she did, she always, first, looked back.”

 

This delightful book, with illustrations of hares by Denise Nestor, was first published in England in 2024.

"Artificial Intelligence vs. Individualism"

 Title of the photo: “Man In Casual Dress Who Is Ignorant of AI”

 

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The refusal of allies like Germany, Japan and Australia to aid in the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz reminds me of the American fable, “The Little Red Hen.” Once it is re-opened, and it will be re-opened, I am sure they will want to be included in the safe passage of oil and gas. And it is my guess that President Trump will be more forgiving than the Little Red Hen.

 

At a time when partisanship runs high, I was pleased that Democrats David Boies, Mark Penn and Andrew Stein wrote two op-eds for The Wall Street Journal over the past few days, each calling out the danger and risk of extreme partisanship on the part of politicians and the media at a time when the U.S. is at war with Iran: “Partisanship on Iran is Dangerous” by Boies on March 13, and “On Iran, Is Only Bad News Fit to Print?” by Penn and Stein on March 17. It is healthy to criticize politicians and their policies, but Trump Derangement Syndrome has rendered criticism of the President by those politicians and reporters who manifest its symptoms unintelligible and harmful to our national interests.

 

I support the decision to attack Iran. When a fanatical leader who promised ‘Death to America’ and who leads a regime that pursued nuclear weapons with missiles capable of carrying them thousands of miles, pre-emption is preferred to retaliation.

 

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As for AI, I may be Panglossian about its threats. like it or not it is here to stay. No one can forecast the future. This is but one man’s opinion.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Thought of the Day

“Artificial Intelligence vs. Individualism”

March 18, 2026

 

“Metacognitive skills will be very important – flexibility, adaptability, experimentation, thinking

critically, being able to challenge things...For that, a traditional liberal arts education is really important.”

                                                                                Jaime Teevan

                                                                                Chief Scientist and Technical Fellow, Microsoft

                                                                                As quoted in The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2026

                                                                                “What AI Bosses Advise Their Kids About Jobs,” Lauren Weber

 

If the adjective ‘metacognitive’ is for you as unfamiliar, as it was for me, here is the definition provided by Google for the noun Metacognition: “Often described as ‘thinking about your thinking.’ It involves understanding your own thought processes and using that awareness to direct your learning.” It sounds to me that if one has ‘metacognitive skills’ they have basically mastered the art of critical thinking.

 

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No one can tell you what the specific consequences of AI will be on employment and on lives. What can be said is that there will be ramifications. Some – perhaps many – will be negative for the employment of large numbers of people. What also can be said is that this is not the first time mankind has faced revolutionary changes. Consider those wrought by the Industrial Revolution, which saw the shift from hand/home-based production and small shops to machines and large factories – factories initially powered by coal and steam and now by natural gas, nuclear and renewables. It was a revolution that began in England in the late 18^th Century and has persisted through the current day. People adapted. Thus, we should take comfort as we look to this next stage. Despite the displacement of millions of jobs, employment and living standards increased over the last two hundred and fifty years. According to ScienceDirect.com, between 80% and 90% of the world’s population lived in “extreme poverty” in the late 18^th Century. Today the World Bank puts that number at less than ten percent.

 

That is not to say we should be blithely unconcerned about the changes that will be wrought as artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous. We need to know its cost, the effects on existing businesses, and the opportunities it will create.

 

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Charles Darwin argued persuasively in The Descent of Man and On the Origin of Species that we have common ancestry with apes, and that all living creatures evolved from a single-celled organism. However, somewhere along the line, man became differentiated from other animals – in his capacity to think critically, to reason abstractly, in his sense of morality and ability to empathize, in his ability to plan for the future, to conceptualize, to be curious and creative. Whether that was natural selection or divine intervention, I leave to others. AI is a creation of the curious and creative. But will a machine ever have those qualities attributed to men and women? I don’t think so.

 

Lauren Weber interviewed five individuals for the Journal article quoted in the epigraph above. They all recognized that rote/routine jobs are at risk; so they emphasized the importance of critical thinking and the need for humanities, both provided by a liberal arts education – now “more than ever,” according to Ethan Mollick, management professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Similarly, in the March 9, 2026 issue of The Spectator, Eamonn Butler, the British economist and co-founder of the Adam Smith Institute, wrote: “...AI augments (emphasis mine) human capabilities, creates demand for new skills in oversight, ethics and creative applications, and drives productivity gains that fuel economic expansion.” In 2025, most of our GDP growth came from productivity gains. It was not technological change that concerned Adam Smith, it was mercantilism and the protectionism it fosters. “Why,” Mr. Mr. Butler wrote, “try to make wine in rainy Scotland, when you can buy it for a thirtieth of the price from sunny France?” What would concern Adam Smith today is the scale of government: “To him, the core functions of government were defense, the administration of justice, and the provisions [that] limited the number of public goods, mostly for infrastructure, which made trade and commerce and thus wealth creation easier.” With total U.S. government spending approaching 38% of GDP in 2025, Adam Smith would be aghast.  

 

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Change is a constant. In the past, technological change eliminated many jobs but created millions more. Will AI replace many current jobs? Certainly. But think of the past. It helps one see the future. Steamships replaced sailing vessels; trains, autos, airplanes revolutionized travel; lap-top and desk-top computers did away with typewriters. When was the last time you saw a switchboard operator or an elevator man? In this time of AI’s infancy we know jobs will be lost. What we don’t know is what new industries and jobs will be created.

 

My biggest worry about AI is how it will be used by scammers. And I worry that government, in regulating it, might impose limits on individual rights. Skepticism is warranted. But I do not fear AI. Of course I am not twenty-five, just starting a job. If I were, I would try to understand how it might be utilized to improve my life. Nevertheless, it is here and will become more complex over time. Embrace it. If it becomes frightening, turn off its power source or remove its battery.[1] I have always thought Peter Drucker (1909-2005) a wise man. A quote attributed to him sums up his philosophy: “To get at the new and better, you have to throw out the old, outworn and obsolete...” He would embrace AI.

 

According to the Worldometer there are 8.3 billion people on Earth. Each has distinct, individual traits, along with strengths and weaknesses. Among them are scientists and artists, musicians and carpenters, lawyers and plumbers, farmers and bankers. They are athletes, poets, actresses and actors. Scattered among them are a few who are evil, but more who are good. Can AI replace them and their dreams? No. So long as our rights, embedded in our Constitution, are honored, the individual will survive and thrive.

 

 

 

 

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[1] As solar-paneled-fueled data centers get placed in space (think SpaceX, Project Suncatcher and Stoke Space), with full access to net-worked computers on Earth, that may not be possible.