Time to End the 20-th Century Education - Part I
Why (under/post-)graduate education and research is obsolete
There are two facets, two approaches in dealing with learning, research, and the advancement of culture generally. The first approach we have seen in a previous post, is to insist on the idea that we need even more skilled leaders, fundraisers, and managers who can direct large research programs and groups of teachers, professors, and scientists. This envisages a huge, well-organized managerial system that pressures people to produce results quickly and in conformity with preset specifications. This paradigm does not envision the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. The second possibility, in contrast, might be a somewhat less ordered, nonlinear, and unpredictable process, which, however, should rediscover the ancient human impetus to understand Nature, the drive to free, independent, and creative thinking, the spirit of the natural philosopher who pursues the freedom to develop his/her research program, the inspired musicians or contemplative artists, and which liberates everyone’s…
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