Comment by TheOtherHobbes
19 days ago
The question is no longer "How do we educate people?" but "What are work and competence even for?"
The culture has moved from competence to performance. Where universities used to be a gateway to a middle class life, now they're a source of debt. And social performances of all kind are far more valuable than the ability to work competently.
Competence used to be central, now it's more and more peripheral. AI mirrors and amplifies that.
I completely agree with you. Do you have any ideas about what might stem this tide on a grander scale? I live in the country and will homeschool my kids--I think the risk of under-socialization is worth the reward of competency-based education and the higher likelihood of my own principles taking hold--but I would vastly prefer to send them to a normal school with other kids, albeit one in a superior society to that which we currently inhabit.
> Do you have any ideas about what might stem this tide on a grander scale?
The best way to move from the working class to the middle class these days is the military with a federal government job after retirement (even with what the current admin is doing). That said, a person doing this needs to realize that they will need to unlearn and learn a lot of social habits and learn some new ones.
The bonus is that higher ed will be free, and ambitious folks can ladder up into officer roles, which can be even more of a social climb.
> I think the risk of under-socialization is worth the reward of competency-based education and the higher likelihood of my own principles taking hold
I think you are very wrong on this point.
A highly-socialized person with the minimum viable amount of competency will go much farther in life than a highly-competent person with limited social skills.
If your kids are in a good school system, there will be a culture of competence in the students and their families.
> but I would vastly prefer to send them to a normal school with other kids, albeit one in a superior society to that which we currently inhabit
You just need to find the right pocket of people.
I personally recommend good Montessori schools over home schooling for K-8. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it works well when it’s a good fit. The community around the school is usually fairly healthy as well.
For 9-12, a high-quality private school, a magnet school, a combo high school / JC, or an independent study high school (often with home school “classes”) are all good options for curious and ambitious students, imho.