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I tried to look at where did the kind of learning we do in…

“I tried to look at where did the kind of learning we do in schools, where did it come from? . . . It came from . . . the last and the biggest of the empires on this planet, [the British Empire]. What they did was amazing. They created a global computer made up of people. It’s still with us today…” quote by Erik Brynjolfsson
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““I tried to look at where did the kind of learning we do in schools, where did it come from? . . . It came from . . . the last and the biggest of the empires on this planet, [the British Empire]. What they did was amazing. They created a global computer made up of people. It’s still with us today. It’s called the bureaucratic administrative machine. In order to have that machine running, you need lots and lots of people. They made another machine to produce those people: the school. The schools would produce the people who would then become parts of the bureaucratic administrative machine. . . . They must know three things: They must have good handwriting, because the data is handwritten; they must be able to read; and they must be able to do multiplication, division, addition and subtraction in their head. They must be so identical that you could pick one up from New Zealand and ship them to Canada and he would be instantly functional.10 Of””

Erik Brynjolfsson

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Modern education was designed to feed a bureaucratic system, emphasizing uniformity and basic arithmetic.

In simple terms: Schools were built to produce standardized workers for large institutions.

Key Takeaway

Rethink education to foster creativity and adaptability.

Themes

education bureaucracy standardization creativity future of work

Mood

analytical concerned

Type

critical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • school curriculum design
  • workforce training
  • policy reform

Key Concepts

sociology economics learning theory

Questions to Reflect On

  • What skills are missing from current curricula?
  • How can education balance standardization with individuality?
A Different Perspective

Uniform training limits innovation and critical thinking.

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