Most of the problems and questions Ken Bain poses in his book, What the Best College Students Do, can be solved by community outreach, or by studying liberal arts. Alain de Botton thinks that sometimes "you just need to step out". Botton's philosophy complicates and challenges many of the ideas that Bain presents in his book.
One thing that I noticed while studying Bain was that most of his ideas favor the wealthy; people that can afford to go to Ivy Leagues and other prestigious colleges and focus on whatever subjects they like. Whereas Botton favors no one in particular, and gives the feeling that anyone can do anything, we are the authors of our own ambitions. Botton's ideas seem more practical to me, and are most relevant to my situation. I can't automatically drop everything and follow what Bain's book says, like many of his study subjects do. Bain's ideas focus on the individual where Botton's are paying attention to both the individual and the group perspective.
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