MM> The big problem with what you're saying is that you fail to realize
 MM> that natural selection in Illich's environment will 
 MM> automatically weed out
 MM> the student pilots who aren't cut out for it, from 
 MM> those who are good at it.
 MM> Or the surgeons.  Or whoever.  The other thing is, 
 MM> your neighborhood will
 MM> automatically know who the bad "self-taught" surgeons are and who
 MM> the good ones are, so very quickly the bad one will have a dwindling
 MM> practice.  When you ask your neighbors to recommend a good surgeon,
 MM> they'll tell you.
 MM> Illich's system really is the best way to promote learning.  Education
 MM> doesn't promote learning.  It just forces pre-decided concepts on
 MM> people, the current fads, and weeds out those students who aren't
 MM> adept at this kind of "learning".
Well, I don't think the system will promote learning. I don't think you have 
been around kids very much. Very few will be self-motivated enough to chase 
after self-education to the extent you describe. My own experiences would say 
that education did promote learning. Although I did learn much from my 
parents, there is much I learned from school also. Parents sometime are 
victims to the latest fads also. Mexico practices this kind of learning after 
8th grade-however it is only the more wealthy families that can afford 
schooling or tutors or "expert teachers".
--- Maximus 2.02
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