Zak Stein: "Values, Education, AI and the Metacrisis"
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 8 May 2024
⏱️ 113 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode, Nate is joined by philosopher and educator Zak Stein to discuss the current state of education and development for children during a time of converging crises and societal transformation. As the pace of life continues to accelerate - including world-shaking technological developments - our schools struggle to keep pace with changes in cultural expectations. What qualities are we encouraging in a system centered on competition and with no emphasis on creating agency or community participation? How is unfettered technology and artificial intelligence influencing youth - and what should parents, adults, and teachers be doing in response? What could the future of education look like if guided by true teacherly authority with the aim to create well-rounded, stable young humans with a sense of belonging and purpose in their communities?
About Zak Stein:
Dr. Zak Stein is a philosopher of education, as well as a Co-founder of the Center for World Philosophy and Religion. He is also the Co-founder of Civilization Research Institute, the Consilience Project, and Lectica, Inc. He is the author of dozens of published papers and two books, including Education in a Time Between Worlds.
00:00 - Zak Stein works + Info, Civilization Research Institute, Education in a Time Between Worlds, Center for World Philosophy and Religion, First Principles and First Values
03:24 - No Child Left Behind
03:56 - Joseph Tainter + TGS episode
03:53 - Iatrogenic
05:30 - Daniel Schmachtenberger (TGS Episodes), Ken Wilbur, Marc Gafney
16:01 - Effects of screens and social media on teen mental health
16:54 - Marshall McLuhan
17:20 - The importance of adult boundary and limit setting for children
18:17 - How social media affects the brain
19:06 - The rise of ADHD in the 90s and effects on education - a timeline
19:58 - Hypercompetitive primary education systems
20:20 - High level of stress and cheating in primary education
22:28 - Scandinavian school systems
26:27 - Cold war effects on the education system
26:35 - Sputnik
27:25 - Tech elites don't give their kids tech
28:35 - Elite overproduction, Peter Turchin
34:10 - Your Unique Self
37:28 - Iain McGilchrist + TGS Episode
38:02 - Moral Relativism
43:27 - Foundations of advertising
47:07 - Negatives of standardized testing
47:22 - Donald T. Cambell - Campbell's law
48:57 - Nature vs Nurture Debate
49:20 - Cooperation and competition
52:10 - Effects of a competitive school environment
55:02 - The effects of an above-and-beyond teacher
55:42 - Legitimate teacherly authority
59:55 - Importance of the environment in the first 5 years of life
1:02:20 - John Dewey
1:10:31 - The best way to learn is to teach
1:11:40 - David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs
1:15:25 - How standardized testing increased high education access
1:16:08 - Civilian Conservation Corp, Lawrence A. Cremin
1:17:02 - New Deal
1:22:07 - Risks around artificial intelligence
1:24:58 - Rise of relationships with AI
1:28:41 - First Chatbot ELIZA
1:30:01 - Electricity use of AI
1:37:30 - The Future of Human Nature
1:41:19 - Peak Oil
1:42:29 - Mental Health Crisis
1:46:35 - Correlation of COVID with IQ loss
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Great Simplification. |
| 0:04.6 | I'm Nate Higgins. |
| 0:06.3 | On this show, we describe how energy, the economy, the environment, and human behavior all fit together and what it might mean for our future. |
| 0:15.2 | By sharing insights from global thinkers, we hope to inform and inspire more humans to play emergent roles in the |
| 0:22.7 | coming great simplification. |
| 0:27.5 | I'd like to welcome philosopher and educator and friend Zach Stein. |
| 0:33.9 | Zach is the co-founder of the Center for World Philosophy and Religion. |
| 0:38.6 | He currently works at Civilization Research Institute. |
| 0:42.6 | He is the author of dozens of published papers and books, including education in a time |
| 0:48.0 | between worlds. |
| 0:49.6 | We discuss what is wrong with our education system. |
| 0:53.5 | Zach believes that education and the problems with it are at the root of the metacrisis. |
| 0:59.8 | He's got some rather radical suggestions on how to go forward. |
| 1:05.4 | But I think his general take on what's lacking in our current education system, which is too based on |
| 1:14.8 | metrics and standards and less on actually learning. There's a lot there that I agree with. |
| 1:23.1 | This is a long and interesting and deep conversation with a big mind, |
| 1:28.7 | uh, |
| 1:29.3 | Zach Stein. |
| 1:30.6 | Please welcome Zach. |
| 1:36.0 | This conversation is long time coming. |
| 1:41.1 | I wanted you on this show two years ago. |
| 1:46.7 | And I imagine we've both learned a lot in those two years. So it's better for our viewers that |
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