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> I'm happy about it actually. We are going through a transformation with regard to our relationship with information. [...] Imho this is naive optimism. Surel

> I'm happy about it actually. We are going through a transformation with regard to our relationship with information. [...] Imho this is naive optimism. Surely things are changing and surely things weren't great, but the direction in which things are changing are not for the better. I'm not familiar with the US but around here affordable publicly-funded university that have generally kind of ok quality are going under just the same. Where do you see any kind of non-commercial learning platform building up? I only see edtech. You're talking about copyright which hints at free software movement and the like: we are loosing ground in that field too (or at best it's stable, but it's still completely niche).

betwixthewires 4y ago
I never said anything about platforms. You're misunderstanding me, I'm not talking about replacement institutions, I don't want to have to pay for a power point course and a printable PDF with my name in block letters on it. I'm glad to see publicly funded institutions go under as well. There should be no gatekeepers to information. The information you need to get the skills universities claim only they can give you is freely available. You want to learn how to do residential electricity? Commercial HVAC? Programming, data analysis, and/or statistics? A handful of search queries and a ton of reading are all you need to get started. About the only things you can't do professionally by just following your interests on the internet right now are medicine and law. I expect that to change too.
- lapinot 4y ago
  I believe you are talking about a replacement institution which would be internet. I stand by my point: "the skills universities claim only they can give you is freely available.", "A handful of search queries and a ton of reading are all you need to get started." this is simplistic (i would describe this stance as nihilist but perhaps you won't like the connotation). I get your idea, free knowledge makes current-world universities redundant, sure, that's fine. But this content is not a byproduct of ethernet cabels (not even commoditized and ubiquitous), it is created and maintained by people (grouped in free and fun learning and self-help communities much like OP defends). This should explain why i think you are talking about replacement institutions. Now for the optimism part: the fact that the internet fosters this kind of communities is not a given, it's enabled by having community-friendly internet. And this internet is currently being steam-rolled by corporate and state interests. Or better said, it is niche, just like it always has been. And funnily, this niche always had a sizeable intersection with academics, albeit outsiders. So yes, universities should be put upside down and shaked, and they could learn a lot from the internet, perhaps you'd say "get absorbed into". But the concept of enabling groups of people to maintain and create public-interest information using experiment and formalism won't go anywhere. This is the concept OP talks about when they say "university".

betwixthewires 4y ago

I never said anything about platforms. You're misunderstanding me, I'm not talking about replacement institutions, I don't want to have to pay for a power point course and a printable PDF with my name in block letters on it. I'm glad to see publicly funded institutions go under as well. There should be no gatekeepers to information. The information you need to get the skills universities claim only they can give you is freely available. You want to learn how to do residential electricity? Commercial HVAC? Programming, data analysis, and/or statistics? A handful of search queries and a ton of reading are all you need to get started. About the only things you can't do professionally by just following your interests on the internet right now are medicine and law. I expect that to change too.

lapinot 4y ago
I believe you are talking about a replacement institution which would be internet. I stand by my point: "the skills universities claim only they can give you is freely available.", "A handful of search queries and a ton of reading are all you need to get started." this is simplistic (i would describe this stance as nihilist but perhaps you won't like the connotation). I get your idea, free knowledge makes current-world universities redundant, sure, that's fine. But this content is not a byproduct of ethernet cabels (not even commoditized and ubiquitous), it is created and maintained by people (grouped in free and fun learning and self-help communities much like OP defends). This should explain why i think you are talking about replacement institutions. Now for the optimism part: the fact that the internet fosters this kind of communities is not a given, it's enabled by having community-friendly internet. And this internet is currently being steam-rolled by corporate and state interests. Or better said, it is niche, just like it always has been. And funnily, this niche always had a sizeable intersection with academics, albeit outsiders. So yes, universities should be put upside down and shaked, and they could learn a lot from the internet, perhaps you'd say "get absorbed into". But the concept of enabling groups of people to maintain and create public-interest information using experiment and formalism won't go anywhere. This is the concept OP talks about when they say "university".