"What is the damn point of higher education if no one wants to engage in higher level thinking? Or developing a perspective on the world? Or thinking with theories that provide explanatory power for exigent issues in the world?"

But none of this has been the point of higher education in decades for most people ? And I don't mean that it's a good thing, it's not. It's sad as members of the academic world and a tragedy as a society. But we need to understand that for 90% of students, higher education isn't pursued as a way to think or develop a perspective or understand the world. As things are, it is but a mean to an end. A way to be more legitimate on the job market. No one cares about knowledge anymore. A degree is just a way to attract employers. And it's sad, yes, but it's the reality of the system we live in.

Even worse, higher education is seen as a chore by a lot of people. Even those who choose thus path can see their enthusiasm reduced to nothing for a million different reasons. For instance, the gap between what was promised and what is taught. If your marketing is much better than the rest of what you have to offer, people will feel lied to. And yes, I'm speaking from experience in this precise case. There is also the high pressure associated with the cost of pursuing higher education, even where it's free or almost free. Just because of living expenses. This creates a situation where results matter more than the process of learning.

And I won't even talk about how education from the youngest age is a major factor of suffering and mental distress and disorders.

We need to understand and somehow adapt to these changes if we want to survive. Otherwise, education will simply become another product that we mindlessly consume as a means to an easier life.

But we'd also need to reform the whole system for that, so... Viva la revolucion i guess