Progress is the problem
Illich was the first to point out to me the potentially toxic nature of the idea[l] of “progress.” And I have yet to come up with a satisfactory outlook on how to couch progress in a consistent, empowering, and safe way. I don’t want an asymptotic vision of progress that [...]
It’s essential to keep in mind that when you’re trying to talk to somebody about a field that perceived as rapidly progressing, you need to be more vigilant about securing the timeliness of your credibility. Reading Illich’s Medical Nemesis, I found myself constantly questioning his conclusions, given their foundation upon statements like:
Awe-inspiring medical technology [...]
About a year after reading my first book calling for education reform–John Holt’s How Children Fail–I read Ivan Illich’s Deschooling Society. By that time, I’d also read all of John Holt’s books, and noted that philosophically, Holt had progressed from someone concerned with pedagogical reform to someone who wanted to the complete abolition of [...]
A fundamental problem with the credential-laden culture of education is the confusion of process (schooling) and product (learning). Illich analogizes this to the confusion of salvation and the Church:
Equal educational opportunity is, indeed, both a desirable and a feasible goal, but to equate this with obligatory schooling is to confuse salvation with the Church. [...]
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