The Order or Things

Malcolm Gladwell ridicules college rankings in the article “The Order of Things,” mocking the system that educators, parents, and students blindly follow. For institutions, college rankings serve as a compass for educational standards that make or break a college reputation. But, as Gladwell reveals, rankings are misrepresented, believing the scores are only good to those who do the ranking.

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The idea of college rankings started in 1983 when the U.S. News published them as a small column. The interest in the subject became so popular that it required substantial manpower to analyze the data. Since manpower was limited, institutions were asked to rank other schools, producing odd results.

For example, on one occasion, Penn State’s law school was ranked in the middle of the pack, to realize later that Penn State did not even have a law school. There are various attempts to enhance the rankings every year. Yet, scores still were odd and manipulated.

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Furthermore, rankings rarely include arts subjects. For example, in the TED Talk, “Do schools kill creativity?” Sir Ken Robinson tells his audience that the education system is a select hierarchy only including subjects applicable to industrialization, leaving artists out of luck.

Gladwell and Robinson urge their audiences to reconsider education and emphasize the benefits of art subjects for long-term progress.

As history reveals, the world has advanced due to the original ideas of creative personalities, and it will continue to do so in the future.

At we champion creativity to propel the digital entertainment industries and move the world forward with new thoughts and ideas with tangible results for art, science, and technology.

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