[MD] 42

[ARLO JAMES BENSINGER JR]

[John]
The main thing wrong is entrenchment.  We have a rapidly evolving world but the academic world isn't adaptive enough to keep up with those changes.

[Arlo]
Is this saying that the content of what, the information as it were, is outdated? Some have suggested that instead of information per se, the modern world requires more 'information literacy' skills, and this is what schools should focus on. Does the above agree with this?

Also, one of the purposes of a 'less adaptive' academy is to prevent against (1) following every latest fad and whim before its evaluated, and (2) as with unions/tenure to guard against social winds that masquerade as intellectual. Are there ways, in the 'adaptive' setting you envision, to protect against these things? Or is it worth it to drop these safeguards all together?

[John]
Unions and tenure may have served a good purpose in the past but now they are part of the problem.

[Arlo]
Why do you think the 'free market' wasn't able to protect the intelllectual level from the social "in the past", but now will do so? How would the intellectual level be protected from becoming a servant of the social level? How is this different than before?

[John]
The solution is to open up the field - vouchers.

[Arlo]
We have already seen a world where a common mediascape has fractured into distinct, and often antagonistic, worlds. For many, a valuable goal of education is the transmission of shared cultural structures; things every American has read, or experienced, or done. Some have said that schools are the last remaining "melting pot" (for good or for bad). If we fracture the educational landscape into millions of isolated bubbles, do you think this would have unintended consequences? 

Also, am reminded of this quote:
"Now I understand that one of the important reasons for going to college and getting an education is to learn that the things you've believed in all your life aren't true, and that nothing is what it appears to be." ― Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon