Internet has created an inter-generational abyss
Card's author :
Gatien Bataille
Card's type of licence :
Creative Commons BY-SA
Ideas developped by the author in the field of cooperation within the book or conference :
Moreover, in western Europe, people under the age of 60:
Today's generation is extremely different to the preceding one:
With the invention of the Internet and ICTs (Information and communication technologies) today's generations have externalised their memory, their imagination and their reasoning (from now on, accessible on the Internet with an effectiveness never seen before in our brains). This has freed “space in the brain” for inventiveness (the only real intellectual activity today, according to the author). Indeed, it is by getting some distance from knowledge and know-how that one can really think and invent!
This upheaval in the world forces new generations to reinvent everything, or almost everything, since the old “framework” we had placed our society in can no longer cope with the surge of the Internet.
This is more valuable than ever in teaching.
Today, knowledge is available everywhere and at all times. Students no longer remain “silent” because the teacher's words sound redundant if all he or she does is “read out” knowledge that is readily available elsewhere.
Students want to play an active role in their learning process (as when they “guide” their computers). Taking them out of this and trying to turn them into a “passive” mass no longer works!
The future of education will entail a full revision of the teacher's role and of school structures. Courses that are not “turbulent” will be those where the teacher created the necessary conditions for co-building knowledge and where he or she will find support in knowledge that is readily available to invent with the learners. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are an example of this.
What a lot of changes in just one century!
| Around 1900 | Around 2000 |
| In France, most humans are farmers | In France, less than1 % of humans are farmers |
| There are 2 billion people on Earth | There are 7 billion people on Earth |
| The average life expectancy is 30 years | The average life expectancy is 80 years |
| People live in their communities, with a similar culture | People live in a group with a mix of religions, cultures, languages, nationalities |
| +/- 5,000 new words enter into the dictionary every 20 years | +/- 35,000 new words enter into the dictionary every 20 years |
| The cultural horizon is limited to a couple of thousand years (1,000 BC) | The cultural horizon goes back until the Planck barrier (just some milliseconds after the Big Bang |
Moreover, in western Europe, people under the age of 60:
- have never experienced hunger (real hunger)
- have never experienced a war
- have never experienced real pain thanks to medicine
An abyss between today's generation and the preceding one!
We are little aware of the huge gap that has grown between today's generation and the preceding one. There has been a change in paradigm and this is largely so thanks to the arrival of the Internet!Today's generation is extremely different to the preceding one:
- they live with an abundance of information available everywhere and at all times
- they are hyper-connected with the whole world
- they no longer retain information in the same way (they have outsourced this in a large proportion)
- they no longer read in the same way
- they are multi-tasking
- they live in a virtual world where distances no longer exist
- they have access to all places and all people thanks to ICTs
- they live in groups that combine several different religions, languages, nationalities, morals…
- they are not concerned by morals that they do not need (was was the case in the times of war, suffering and shortages…)
With the invention of the Internet and ICTs (Information and communication technologies) today's generations have externalised their memory, their imagination and their reasoning (from now on, accessible on the Internet with an effectiveness never seen before in our brains). This has freed “space in the brain” for inventiveness (the only real intellectual activity today, according to the author). Indeed, it is by getting some distance from knowledge and know-how that one can really think and invent!
This upheaval in the world forces new generations to reinvent everything, or almost everything, since the old “framework” we had placed our society in can no longer cope with the surge of the Internet.
This is more valuable than ever in teaching.
For a re-definition of teaching!
Before, teaching was an offer that was to be grasped as it was! Knowledge was passed by the voice of the teacher who would read written texts. In the auditorium, the teacher was the centre and reigned over the “learners”. To spread knowledge he asked for silence.Today, knowledge is available everywhere and at all times. Students no longer remain “silent” because the teacher's words sound redundant if all he or she does is “read out” knowledge that is readily available elsewhere.
Students want to play an active role in their learning process (as when they “guide” their computers). Taking them out of this and trying to turn them into a “passive” mass no longer works!
The future of education will entail a full revision of the teacher's role and of school structures. Courses that are not “turbulent” will be those where the teacher created the necessary conditions for co-building knowledge and where he or she will find support in knowledge that is readily available to invent with the learners. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are an example of this.
Short introduction of the book's author :
Michel Serres is a professor at Stanford University and a member of the Académie française. He is the author of many philosophical and history of science essays, the most recent of which, “The Times of Crisis” and “Music” have been greatly acclaimed in the press. He is one of the few contemporary philosophers who portrays a vision of the world that links sciences to culture
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Quotations :
With the explosion of new technologies, a new human being is born: Michel Serres calls it “Thumbelina” in a nod to the skill with which messages fly from their thumbs.
Literature references :
SERRES, Michel. Petite poucette. Paris, France : Le Pommier, 2013. Manifestes (Paris. 1999), ISSN 1294-6605. ISBN 978-2-7465-0605-3.