You reading information and spitting it back to me is not knowledge.
Colleges have existed for more than a thousand years. You think that's just about a piece of paper and some books?
No, it's about much more than that. And mind you, my husband never went to college, so I do not care whether one has a degree or not- that does not make one intelligent, I'll give you that.
Knowledge-and college- is about the interplay of debate and discussion between people of different opinions. It's learning how to express one's ideas in a convincing manner, and to learn how to think critically about a variety of sources. Some people can do this inherently. But most cannot (and I can attest to this from the students who walk into my classroom).
I do not care whether my students remember the dictators of Latin America and presidents of Mexico. I DO care that they can link global themes together that create crises and uncover how similar processes affect nations over time.
The same processes that create turmoil in today's world caused chaos 2000 years ago. College teaches students how to prepare for a variety of experiences, not the very specific nature of your office that YOUR experience in 7 years taught you.
You want some books? Here, try these (in no particular order):
Evans, Susan Toby. Ancient Mexico & Central America: Archaeology & Culture History
Lockhart, James. The Nahuas after the Conquest
Soustelle, Jacques. The Olmecs: the Oldest Civilization in Mexico
Nash, June. We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us.
MacCormack, Sabine. On the Wings of Time: Rome, the Incas, Spain, and Peru
Pagden, Anthony. Lords of All the World
Mann, Charles. 1491 and 1493
Some of these books are intensely academic, others are not. I would assign every one of them to my first year students (though not all in one semester).
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