In Defence of Academic Standards
4th October 2026
What is the purpose of a university? People ask this question all the time in conferences about academic freedom and the future of higher education. But an institution like the academy has different purposes for different people. And this is what we should expect in the modern world. A company likely has one purpose for its customers, another for its employees, another for its shareholders, and maybe a fourth for society at large. So too with academia. But do these varying purposes have any common thread?
The whole educational establishment is a massive illustration of Scott Adams’ contrast of goals vs. systems. Modern education is based on goals when it ought to be based on systems.
Anybody who gets 60% of the questions correct on a test will get an F. But think about it. The test-taker has absorbed almost two-thirds of what was being taught. And this is denigrated as failure? The distinction between ‘goals’ and ‘objectives’ needs to have a great place in our lives.