6
"Human history becomes more and more a race
between education and catastrophe"
– H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, (1920)
Issue 6
March 6, 2015
We do not know exactly what Wells meant by this, but we can guess. No need to puzzle over catastrophe; he meant bad, whatever the details. But Wells probably spoke for his times, and if he did, he spoke for our times also, for education then, as is the case now, increasingly meant more science and technology, more material comfort.
Wells’ (a brilliant writer, by the way: War of the Worlds, The Time Machine) published his Outline of History right after WW I, but he had thought about it during the preceding decades, times of hope and optimism in Western culture. Medieval ignorance and superstition were fading away while the idea of human progress grew stronger. Science, industry, and up to date philosophy were bringing about (no doubt about it) a better world. Indeed, the century before Wells is known as the “Age of Enlightenment.” True, the havoc and carnage of WW I was a tragic interruption in the march of progress, but that didn’t change the greater vision. But it was a warning. Unless something, i.e., education, overcame human frailties, the wrong side would win the race. Two decades later, WW II, more havoc and carnage, but optimism still prevailed. Maybe even more so.
The word, education, has Greek roots meaning ‘to lead out of’. It is a very optimistic word, but that’s OK. As the Greeks looked back and as we look back, there is much to be led out of, namely, our human condition, for as humans we are by nature enamored of our selves and mired in the seven deadly sins. Our chosen way out is material improvement. Now material improvement is important and we are grateful for it, but unless we become better persons, catastrophe will win, and nowadays that seems even more possible than it might have seemed in Wells’ time.
Regrettably, the current ideas of education do not seem to be greatly concerned about the matter. A fad of the day, for instance, is STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math, the very tools we used to bring about our present condition! Certainly it would be too simple to blame STEM or any other educational tactic as such for our problems. They are but our tools, but
any conception of what humankind ought to be doing now and forevermore must be two fold. We ought to be concerned not just about the tools but also their use, not just the means but the ends, not just about learning how to make a living but how to live.
In a way, the former is easy, but how then should we live? Much easier to be sincerely fashionable, go with the majority, and acquire flashy new tools, than to decide what to do with them. What should we teach our children (and ourselves) that would nourish, individually and collectively, privately and publicly, peace and happiness? There never has been an easy answer, and none is likely today. Indeed, it is not the style of our day to talk of the meaning and purpose of life at all. (Besides, who are you to try to impose your values on me?) STEM or any other tool offers nothing, and the issue seems mostly forgotten. But think of H. G. Wells.
