Phil and Stephen talk about the future of institutions of bookstores, higher learning, retail outlets, the workplace, and other institutions we thought of as permanent. What is to become of all of them? Could they all really be evolving into coffee shops?
While we’ve written and talked quite a bit about the education bubble over the past few months, a recent announcement from MIT may prove to be a game-changer. Does MITx represent the next stage in the evolution of higher education? Phil and Stephen discuss.
One of the tragedies in the history of human learning is the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. There are conflicting accounts of the library’s destruction attributed to various perpetrators, beginning with Julius Caesar in 48 BCE and ending with the Muslim invaders in 642 CE.
However it was destroyed, it was a tremendous loss. The Library of Alexandria was the Library of Congress of the ancient world. It is believed that many great works of antiquity — known to us today only by title, or in quoted fragments, or not at all — were lost for all time. Our knowledge would be richer and, potentially, our path from the ancient world to the modern world would have been shorter and easier, had some of these works survived.
This week we see history repeating itself on a smaller scale as another library in Egypt is burned down:
Volunteers in white lab coats, surgical gloves and masks stood on the back of a pickup truck Monday along the banks of the Nile River in Cairo, rummaging through stacks of rare 200-year-old manuscripts that were little more than charcoal debris.
The volunteers, ranging from academic experts to appalled citizens, have spent the past two days trying to salvage what’s left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings, casualties of Egypt’s latest bout of violence.
Among the most severe losses is the 24-volume Description of Egypt, written over a period of 20 years by as many as 150 contributors after Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt. The loss of of these priceless manuscripts is a terrible blow from the standpoint of history, but there is a bit of a silver lining:
[T]here are four other handwritten copies of the Description of Egypt. The French body of work has also been digitized and is available online.
We can only hope that there are multiple copies of many of the books that were lost in this fire. Losing old books hurts, but losing the information they contained hurts a lot worse. This tragedy makes the case for creating digital backups of any collection of unique (or even rare) books, paintings, maps, etc.
A great deal of knowledge was centralized in ancient Alexandria and then lost because human civilization did not have a robust set of backup procedures in place. Such procedures would have been very difficult to implement in the ancient world, and would have been no small task even in the mid-to-late 20th century, when many such efforts were, in fact, contemplated (and a few initiated.)
But today there is no excuse. We have the tools and we have the infrastructure. We’re long past the point where we should be losing knowledge to fire or flood.
Let’s get those backup procedures in place, and let’s follow them carefully.
While we’ve written and talked quite a bit about the education bubble over the past few months, a recent announcement from MIT may prove to be a game-changer.
Our institutions of higher education don’t have a monopoly on information; they started losing that around the time the time that public libraries became widespread. And these days, they no longer have a monopoly on instruction. They have given it away through their own free programs — MIT was a pioneer in that movement — and lost it to competitors like Khan Academy.
So what’s left? Contacts and credentials. Let’s look at credentials. When you spend four years at Stanford or Yale you’re paying for a degree with that institution’s name on it. Such a credential is a not a guarantee of success and happiness, but it’s at least a good head start. It is a big-ticket item, a high-prestige item. At one time, such a degree was viewed as a solid investment (and largely still is, depending on what the degree is in.)
The thinking behind major universities giving away courses was that it wouldn’t conflict with their main business, selling credentials, since the free courses can’t be applied to a degree.
But now we have this:
MIT today announced the launch of an online learning initiative internally called “MITx.” MITx will offer a portfolio of MIT courses through an online interactive learning platform that will:
organize and present course material to enable students to learn at their own pace
MIT expects that this learning platform will enhance the educational experience of its on-campus students, offering them online tools that supplement and enrich their classroom and laboratory experiences. MIT also expects that MITx will eventually host a virtual community of millions of learners around the world.
That “virtual community” is intriguing. MIT is going to stay in the business of both contacts and credentials, but now they’re offering two tiers of each. There is the traditional degree program and the traditional set of elite contacts that go along with it. That’s the premium level of service. And now there’s the consumer model — certification supported by an MIT-specific social network.
It will be very interesting to see how these two tiers work together. Does the consumer model help support the traditional model? Does the distributed online model become more official as time goes by? Time will tell. In any case, kudos to MIT for once again staying ahead of the curve.
Phil and Stephen discuss breaking news about the possible discovery of the long-sought “God particle.” What does it mean? Why do we care?
Plus Supersizing space flight and other great topics.
Inspired by Amy Purdy’s remarkable TED Talk, Phil and Stephen discuss the limits that we are currently overcoming and may hope to overcome in the near future.
We live in an age in which many of the limitations our ancestors faced have been all but forgotten. And there is light at the end of the tunnel for several of the others.
As technology opens up new capabilities and new possibilities, we may find that the biggest limit we face is our own imagination.
Some thoughts on the malleability of images over at Transparency Revolution:
You take two excessively attractive people and you make them even more attractive. Sure, it’s about as close to literally gilding a lily as anything ever comes, but so what? We value these people because of their looks (meaning no offense to their acting ability; I think they both do okay on that front.) Why not take it up a notch? Because it’s going to give us unrealistic expectations?
Um, this is sensitive so I’ll try not to be too harsh: most guys looking for even the un-retouched version of Angelina Jolie are going to be bitterly disappointed. Sad but true. Might as well make her look perfect. If anything, the unreality of the perfection could help some of us to manage expectations a bit.
Read the whole thing.
Proposed: a new holiday to coincide with Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day is all about reflecting on the good things in our past and present lives. How about a day dedicated to the good things that are coming — the ones we most look forward to?
For example, the individual shown here is very excited about coming breakthroughs in vat-grown meat (and poultry) — making it possible to enjoy meat without slaughtering animals (or birds.)
Phil and Stephen will take us through some other, even more exciting possibilities.
Join Us:
You heard it here first — in the future we’re all going to be sexy immortal billionaires with superpowers. That future is getting closer every day. Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon explore exciting future developments including:
3-D Printing and the Future of Free Stuff
Plus…
An update on last week’s discussion of power plants in orbit.
And lots more!
Join us
Music this week was “Dreamer’s Overture” from JT Bruce’s new album The Dreamer’s Paradox.
Yes, there is plenty of work out there for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty. Not all work is paid, you know. Unpaid internships can be an important stepping-stone for college students looking to enter the world of employment. Volunteering is a great way to sharpen existing skills and learn new ones; it also provides excellent opportunities for networking and, of course, brings many benefits to your community.
And let’s not forget about donning spandex and a mask and using your special powers to fight crime. The job doesn’t pay, but it’s very rewarding.
What’s that, you say? That doesn’t happen? Nobody really does that?
Guess again, my friends…
And, here, check this one out.
Okay, Knight Warrior’s heart is in the right place and all, and I have no inclinations towards super-villianhood (and in fact I’ve never even been in a fight as an adult), but I want to go on record saying that I’m pretty sure I could break this guy in half. Also, doesn’t it sound like his Mum is describing something other than learning that her son is a superhero?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
One more. I kinda like these guys…
Phoenix Jones has a great look. He needs to work on the superhero vocal delivery, though. (BTW, Phoenix, little tip for you: protecting your secret identity requires not letting these seemingly insignificant biographical details slip out. Just sayin’.) Buster shouldn’t talk at all — it totally blows the image. Interesting that Red Dragon has never even had to draw his sword. The commanding presence is enough — just like Batman striking fear into the hearts of criminals.
I don’t know about you, but I’m going to sleep better tonight knowing that…
…um…
…my neighborhood is a generally low-crime area.
Cross-posted from Transparency Revolution.