Maynard Hutchins: The Higher Learning To America

• Chapter 6: R. Maynard Hutchins: Bringing “The Higher Learning to America, pg. 111-129

Robert Maynard Hutchins was described as being a very enthusiastic, charismatic, and persuasive leader. Despite his young age and limited experience, his youthful passion and potential shined through. I think this can relate to the idea of how age does not necessarily have a clear positive correlation with wisdom since young people can be wise and intelligent as well. 00oHe also thrived off of debating with other people and I think this quality alone can be considered either a good or bad thing. For example, debates mean that there is an open platform for discussion and substantiated arguments. However, from the portrayal of Hutchins and his debates, I believe he is more self-interested. Instead of actually listening and trying to understand his opponent’s point of view, he is seen wanting to be heard out more while playing the role of the angel in the situations. Ultimately, I think this is a dissonant aspect of his leadership.

I also found Hutchins’s actions and his ideas on education a bit contradictory. As he worked towards law school, he also pursued specialized knowledge in the fields of behavior and social sciences. Like so, he would come to implement empirical data within his practices in law. This reminded me of purpose of liberal education,

In Solomon Asch’s experiment, he found how people are more likely to be influenced by peer pressure into choosing an answer they know is wrong, just because everyone else thinks it’s right. Similarly, people’s tendency to conform can stifle a lot of valuable comments and/or constructive criticism. However, I believe that George Marshall had a strong sense of moral responsibility because he always stayed true to himself and what he thought was