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Civilization has gotten more complex in some ways. But the modern world shields us from a lot of other complexity: how many poisonous plants and dangerous anima

Civilization has gotten more complex in some ways. But the modern world shields us from a lot of other complexity: how many poisonous plants and dangerous animals do you need to identify? How many social/religious rituals do you need to perform completely perfectly lest you be ostracized from society? One of the limiting factors on early-stage civilizations is that it takes pretty much a lifetime to transmit information from one generation to the next; between books, specialization, urbanization, and price signals (which are basically an API on human desires and the resources necessary to fulfill them), we need far less general knowledge than we used to.

VladRussian 15y ago
>we need far less general knowledge than we used to. yep, and more "good paying manufacturing jobs" :) Seriously, it looks like you just don't understand the r- and K-selection (because it would be an unnecessary "general knowledge" until you're an evolution biology professional and thus you don't know it) and thus you don't understand where your sentiment is coming from.
- byrneseyeview 15y ago
  http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1055153 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1055153 r/K selection is a nice addition to the mental toolbox. (I learned about it while in high school, because I cut class to hang out in the library.) There is a difference between liking an outcome (people who have the intellectual tools necessary to contribute to society) and being wedded to any particular means (ever more students going to ever larger institutions to spend ever more money learning ever, ever less).
  - VladRussian 15y ago
    >being wedded to any particular means (ever more students going to ever larger institutions to spend ever more money these current particular means of Brick & Mortar large institutions are the legacy of the pre-Internet age just like any other B&M institution, and they will still have their niche going forward. Online education is going to be the dominant form in the elevating of the basic level of education to the next level beyond current K12. DB course from Stanford, Control Systems from Berkley, Quantum Physics from CalTech, Differential Topology from Princeton (or any of these course from my University :) while living in some dorms in Tibet with a bunch of students from other countries ... > learning ever, ever less) this is where global competitive pressure comes into play. Free global flow of trade, capital and labor immediately emphasizes the role of the level and quality of education.

VladRussian 15y ago

>we need far less general knowledge than we used to. yep, and more "good paying manufacturing jobs" :) Seriously, it looks like you just don't understand the r- and K-selection (because it would be an unnecessary "general knowledge" until you're an evolution biology professional and thus you don't know it) and thus you don't understand where your sentiment is coming from.

byrneseyeview 15y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1055153 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1055153 r/K selection is a nice addition to the mental toolbox. (I learned about it while in high school, because I cut class to hang out in the library.) There is a difference between liking an outcome (people who have the intellectual tools necessary to contribute to society) and being wedded to any particular means (ever more students going to ever larger institutions to spend ever more money learning ever, ever less).
- VladRussian 15y ago
  >being wedded to any particular means (ever more students going to ever larger institutions to spend ever more money these current particular means of Brick & Mortar large institutions are the legacy of the pre-Internet age just like any other B&M institution, and they will still have their niche going forward. Online education is going to be the dominant form in the elevating of the basic level of education to the next level beyond current K12. DB course from Stanford, Control Systems from Berkley, Quantum Physics from CalTech, Differential Topology from Princeton (or any of these course from my University :) while living in some dorms in Tibet with a bunch of students from other countries ... > learning ever, ever less) this is where global competitive pressure comes into play. Free global flow of trade, capital and labor immediately emphasizes the role of the level and quality of education.