Deschooling Society
In Chapter 7, the author describes the development of the human race as a collection of societies that are based upon man-made institutions for needs fulfillment. The author compares current with ancient societies in terms of their fundamental dependence: whereas ancient societies directly relied upon nature for the fulfillment of their needs, modern society relies upon institutions. When hungry, the modern person visits the appropriate commercial establishment to fill the need. Furthermore, modern life has become despiritualized. Ancient societies depended upon the mystical, spiritual and religious to explain their world and its manifestations. Modern scientists have demystified these manifestations, and provided explanations fo
In attempting to fulfill institutionally created needs, scientific institutions have driven humanity and the earth to the edge of destruction. According to the author, this dependence has created the problems of shortage and eventual destruction that humanity faces today. The former warned the latter to leave Pandora alone. Children fantasize flying their spacecrafts away from a crepuscular earth. " Primitive man had relied on mythical participation in sacred rites to initiate individuals into the lore of society, but the classical Greeks recognized as true men only those citizens who let themselves be fitted by paideia (education) into the institutions their elders had planned. Prometheus is usually thought to mean "foresight," or sometimes even "he who makes the North Star progress. The author identifies a group of "elite" persons arising like Prometheus from the ashes created by modern scientists. The ancient dependence upon the mystical higher power has also been replaced by the modern dependence upon science. This is ironic, as the very attempt to create subsistence have resulted in mortal danger. In classical Greece the name "Epimetheus," which means "hindsight," was interpreted to mean "dull" or "dumb. The Pythia of Delphi has now been replaced by a computer which hovers above panels and punch cards. Like the hindsight indicated by the name "Epimetheus", Prometheus' brother, humanity can learn from their mistakes in the past, and look into the future with a sense of hope that refutes the inherent negativity of expectation. This institutionalization of substantive values, this belief that a planned process of treatment ultimately gives results desired by the recipient, this consumer ethos, is at the heart of the Promethean fallacy.
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North Star,
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Acceptance Essays
