Education in the Age of Marginalism and the Alienation of Knowledge

Abstract

Global changes of contemporary education are so large-scale that they need a se­rious reconsideration. Philosophy of education has viewed education as a highly valued human activity and form of socialization, though philosophers may have had different views on the aims and methods of education. The importance of ed­ucation was based on the fact that a society could develop if and only if its mem­bers had an appropriate education. Nowadays education is discussed in journals, like the Philosophy of Education published in Novosibirsk, in annual confer­ences and by various associations of thinkers, teachers and professors. The abso­lute majority of philosophers since Plato emphasizes the fundamental value of education and wants to make its quality better. But a current state of humankind does not require a universal education of population. Robots and neural networks force the humans out of production. The humans are lacking a long-time mem­ory as information turns easily accessible by means of Internet. Growth rates of innovations, discoveries and changes are so high that adaptation to them requires daily efforts of any individual. Many professions are dying. The current trend of social development is growing marginalization of humans, their societies and countries. Knowledge alienates from its creators and, in a much greater degree, from public. Humans are first of all consumers but consumers do not need edu­cation: why one should spend many years in school and institute to buy food or see a clip on a smartphone? A multistage system of education looks outdated. The need of such an institution is dying step by step, as complex operations may be more effectively made by machines with stable, reliable and efficient neural networks, than by humans who have to spend years to become specialists. Colos­sal growth of information makes its learning by an individual impossible. Alien­ated knowledge turns external force regarding an individual.