Book Review: Quantum Philosophy and the End of Education
March 11, 2019 § 2 Comments
Quantum Philosophy and the End of Education, by Roo Pavan (self-published)
April 1st, 2019
This self-published book by a retired physicist turned tech millionaire has taken the education establishment by storm — and not in a good way. Few people had even heard of this book or its author, Roo Pavan, until President Trump mentioned it approvingly in a tweet. It is doubtful whether our Esteemed Leader actually read the book, but that didn’t stop him from claiming he would use it as the blueprint for education policy in his second term. Like most of the book’s critics, he probably only read the sensationalist claims in the final chapter rather than the surprisingly thoughtful analysis that preceded it.
Which is a shame, because that would have been a conversation worth having. The author’s main thesis is contrarian but hardly new: that Western philosophy in general — and higher education in particular — are more about perpetuating a cultural elite than actually pursuing truth and serving society, though he concedes that those have often been a useful byproduct.
The Makers Triversity: A Father’s Education Dream
April 11, 2012 § 9 Comments
The following is a work of fiction, perhaps even of fantasy. I am no educator, and know nothing of the economics or mechanics of running such a school. Yet I dream that my son’s future will look more like this than what passes for education today.
[May 16, 2017 Update: Maker’s Triversity missed the 2014 deadline I had hoped for back in 2011. But it is more plausible now than it was then, with the rise of micro-schools such as the franchise-able Acton Academy. Who knows? Maybe something will happen in time for the 2018-19 school year…]
iHack, therefore iBlog 