The original utopia was Plato\u2019s Republic.\u00a0 And in that hypothesized city-state one of the most important precepts for producing good citizens was proper education.\u00a0 Now, if you\u2019ve ever read \u201cThe Republic\u201d you know it\u2019s literally gibberish.\u00a0 Plato proceeds from unsubstantiated statements to illogical conclusions throughout the argument he uses to design his state but one thing I think he was right about is the necessity for highly superior education.\u00a0 So, my republics will incorporate the most scientific and practical methods for educating and testing the young in order to maximize their future value as workers and citizens and to provide a worldview that would allow them to harmonize with their fellow citizens.<\/p>\n
Now, since I am not an educator or a psychologist, I have no fixed ideas about methodology or even the content of this educational regimen.\u00a0 I will hazard a guess that mathematics should still have a very important place in these schools.\u00a0 I think thousands of years of western educational practices has proven the link between mathematical learning and general mental fitness.\u00a0 But beyond that I\u2019ll say that identifying the curricula for the various levels and types of schooling is something that will be of the highest importance for these communities.\u00a0 And by no means do I intend for schooling to be strictly academic.\u00a0 Specific vocational training is something I see as extremely valuable for individuals of all types.\u00a0 Even a particle physicist or a concert pianist could benefit from knowing how to solder a component onto his computer motherboard or snake a bathtub drain.\u00a0 But all of this is tangential to the main reasons why education will be critical to making these communities successful.<\/p>\n
The schools will identify the academic capabilities of the children and combining this with their interests the correct academic and vocational curricula will be provided as choices.\u00a0 This should maximize the probability for a successful citizen.\u00a0 But the schools will also educate children with the ethos and expectations that the community is based on.\u00a0 In this way the young will align themselves with the goals that are expected from them as members in the association.\u00a0 In this way, the likelihood that these later generations will fit in with the community is maximized.<\/p>\n
As with every other aspect of the community, feedback from the testing will inform the goals and needs of the community.\u00a0 For instance, suppose the community is lacking in machinists.\u00a0 So, the forecasting will be used to increase the monetary incentives for machinists.\u00a0 And so forth for whatever other imbalances occur.<\/p>\n
And education can also apply to other aspects of life.\u00a0 For instance, men and women need to find mates in order to produce the next generation.\u00a0 Education can include counseling on adapting to married life and even providing a dating service to locate compatible mates.<\/p>\n
Now, Plato had his citizens indoctrinated with myths that justified their strange lifestyle.\u00a0 For instance, he did not want the nuclear family to interfere with the loyalties of his citizens and so the children were raised together as a pack.\u00a0 And he had stories that supposedly reinforced this lifestyle.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t expect these optimized communities of mine to attempt to destroy families.\u00a0 On the contrary, I would expect them to do everything possible to prove that their lifestyle and community provide the best human environment possible.<\/p>\n
I wonder what aspect of my optimal communities I\u2019ll talk about next?\u00a0 Well, maybe that\u2019s enough for a while.\u00a0 I better post on something else tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The original utopia was Plato\u2019s Republic.\u00a0 And in that hypothesized city-state one of the most important precepts for producing good citizens was proper education.\u00a0 Now,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1289,1263,4],"tags":[1290,5084,4484,5083],"class_list":["post-35252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-fiction-by-me","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","category-sff","tag-my-fiction","tag-photopia","tag-the-american-archipelago-book-1-the-sniper","tag-utopia"],"yoast_head":"\n