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People learn what they need to learn -- especially if they start as children. Mass literacy is very much the result of concerted efforts by the state to provid
by rquantz 13y ago
People learn what they need to learn -- especially if they start as children.
Mass literacy is very much the result of concerted efforts by the state to provide universal education -- it didn't just come into being.
Moreover, the point of the article is that we are in a time where education, whether self- or school-directed, can't solve the problem, because the productivity benefits of technology are going almost entirely to those with capital, rather than labor, i.e., the people doing the learning. You can argue with whether that is the case, but be aware that when you say "people will learn what they need to learn," you are actually stating the argument that the OP is already rebutting.
- TDL 13y ago"Mass literacy is very much the result of concerted efforts by the state to provide universal education..." This isn't necessarily accurate. The U.S. was a highly literate society before the advent of state sponsored, public education. State sponsored education did indeed increase the literacy rate because many states forced parents to send children to school. http://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp#illiteracy http://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp#illiteracy
- rquantz 13y agoYou're right, I should have said "universal literacy."
- marknutter 13y agoI would be cautious to say we have universal literacy today, even with universal education.
- ef4 13y agoYou're posing a false dichotomy. Skill is capital. And its worth relative to other forms of capital (cash, land) continues to rise. Consider what's required to start a new business today. You need less cash than ever before. The limiting factor is most definitely skill. Not just obvious specialist skills, but the basic mindset that takes you from "just punching the clock" to "seeking opportunities to help". One reason wealth is concentrating is that the vast majority of people are woefully unskilled in the areas that matter now. This creates big pools of labor that have no leverage, which are naturally easy to exploit. So the existence of growing wealth inequality is not proof that education doesn't matter. It's just as plausible that most people are mis-educated. And when you look at the original intent of our education systems, they were deliberately designed to produce obedient factory workers who could reliably follow simple directions. Which is now an anti-skill.