The Problem with Abundance

The Problem with Abundance :: Remember Peter de Jager? He was one of the prime prophets of Y2K apocalypse scenarios – I’m sure producers of gas powered generators are still living well thanks to him. He has aparently metamorphosed into a futurist (which is somewhat like being a religious prophet, but with better a better tailor and you get invited to much better conferences), and here is a piece from him discussing how abundance can be a problem in a culture that is designed around scarcity.

This is, to me, a fascinating idea. I have noticed in schools that our daily activities are based around scarcity of learning resources – teacher as the transmitter of knowledge, standardization of textbooks and exams – while we actually live in a world of abundant learning resources. There is a incongruity that I believe students are aware of, at least preconciously; perhaps this is why so many students view school as irrelevant.