Tue Aug 3, 2010
Yesterday I posted a link on Facebook about studying online for free. The material in these free courses is provided by the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), one of the most respected universities in this planet.
I think education is the solution to most (if not all) problems humans have. Violence, hunger and poverty could be things of the past with the right education in place. Education could improve the well being of all life forms around us. The kind of education I think of would not be so favourable for capitalism, since it would show that each object we buy pollutes the world, and that buying objects can provide a short moment of happiness, but learning to enjoy free things gives us an infinite resource of joy. It would teach about being creative, about learning to think, about finding solutions, about human interaction and feelings. Since this kind of education would not benefit capitalism, it will not probably come from governments and schools, but from people.
Fortunately many people share and devote their lives to working in projects that benefit people (instead of companies). I just read this article about some people trying to make free school books in the USA: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html?_r=1
It mentions two places where you can access free school books: http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome and http://about.ck12.org/
It makes me happy to hear of such projects. Projects like http://www.drumbeat.org/p2pu-webcraft, or http://laptop.org/ . I share the vision of Nicholas Negroponte mentioned in this recent letter.