Zak Stein and Michael Gibson, co-founders of the 1517 Fund, delve into the transformation of education in the digital age. They discuss how AI and technology are reshaping learning, advocating for more accessible and community-driven models. The conversation explores the importance of personal interactions in education versus the rise of machine-generated content. They critique the current university system and highlight the need for innovative approaches to foster creativity and intrinsic motivation, challenging traditional educational values along the way.
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insights INSIGHT
The University Killer
The current education system, designed for the industrial age, faces disruption from AI and digital technologies.
This disruption may make education more affordable and accessible.
insights INSIGHT
Fragility of Public Education Systems
The fragility of traditional education systems, like large public schools, has become more apparent due to events like COVID-19.
Digital technology offers opportunities for decentralized learning and skill-sharing networks.
question_answer ANECDOTE
From Thiel Fellowship to Venture Capital
Michael Gibson co-founded the Thiel Fellowship, awarding grants to young innovators who opt out of traditional college.
This led to the creation of a venture capital fund investing in individuals without degrees, achieving significant success.
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What is school and culture in the time between worlds? This is a rich conversation about the present digital age and its horrors and possibilities.
Michael Gibson is the co-founder of the 1517 Fund, a venture capital firm that supports young entrepreneurs challenging traditional education paths. He was instrumental in developing the Thiel Fellowship, which awards $100,000 grants to innovators under 23, encouraging them to skip or leave college. Previously, he worked at Thiel Capital alongside Peter Thiel. Gibson studied philosophy at Williams College and the University of Oxford, and his background in philosophy shapes his approach to supporting unconventional ideas and innovation. Gibson wrote the magnificent "Paper Belt On Fire",
Dr. Zak Stein studied philosophy and religion at Hampshire College, and then educational neuroscience, human development, and the philosophy of education at Harvard University. While a student at Harvard, he co-founded what would become Lectica, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the research-based, justice-oriented reform of large-scale standardized testing in K-12, higher-education, and business.He is also a writer whose work has appeared in a variety of journals including American Psychologist, New Ideas in Psychology, Mind, Brain, and Education, Integral Review, and the Journal of Philosophy of Education. He has published two books, Social Justice and Educational Measurement a dissertation that traces the history of standardized testing and its ethical implications, and Education in a Time Between Worlds, which expands the philosophical work to include grappling with the relations between schooling and technology more broadly. He is also the co-author of David J. Temple's First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on Cosmoerotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come.
Michael Gibson's books: https://www.amazon.fr/stores/author/B099S87YCD
Zak's Web Page: http://www.zakstein.org/
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