Re: virus: truth, science, and the American way

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@calweb.com)
Wed, 2 Apr 1997 12:07:38 -0800 (PST)


> You are suggesting we abolish universities? And where will the next
> generation's prodigies go to study philosophy and history? Why not
> abolish the NEA, too? Where do you suppose thinkers get the money and
> time to develop themselves?

So the /current/ method of doing something is the /only/ method? What
a sad lack of imagination. I was such a "prodigy": a national merit
scholarship qualifier on my SATs, but I chose to educate myself in the
real world instead, and get paid for it along the way. I've now been
a successful computer engineer for 17 years, and never found any need
for a degree or government aid.

People will always find ways to learn, because learning is valuable.
And they will pay for the service, either by voluntary trade as they
did before the 19th century, or by forcible taxation as they do now.
The particular institutions that perform this function should be as
flexible as the world they educate about.

What's wrong with apprenticeships? Virtual classrooms? Voluntary
mutual education collectives? Advertising-sponsored learning?

Perhaps some good things happen at traditional universities as well,
but we must learn from their failures and perverse incentives and
create better ways.

-- 
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com>  <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC