Education

Poul Anderson, The Byworlder, III.

Education has been transformed:

philosophers of education from Plato to Skinner have been called into scientific question;

psychology was replaced by rigorous research on man as a whole organism;

a "teaching machine" (p. 29) (?) was invented;

then, psychophysiological conditioning, including subliminal exposure, was applied;

subtler and simpler approaches included effective positive reinforcement;

school and college education has become a technology;

learning and retention rates have "...skyrocketed." (ibid.);

industry and government now employ researchers who would previously have been in higher education;

the few genuine teachers limit the number of their "...disciples." (p. 30)

Skip welcomes these changes but I do not like the sound of them.