Education and Capitalism

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Thomas
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Education and Capitalism

Post by Thomas »

RRM and Wai,

I love reading your articles and the points you make about the interactions of chemicals in our body and how everything can be traced to our evolutionary origins.
Ive been thinking a lot lately about the pressure put on education and making as much money as possible.

In a big university, after you get through the partying the first couple of years, you definately begin to feel the competition. Im trying to figure out if this is more based on our evolutionary need to hierarchically be the best, or if there is something else.

What are your thoughts on how 'natural' it is to stress ourselves out over the best possible education, or is this more tied to our hoping to be as 'powerful' as possible to get the best possible partner?
CurlyGirl
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Post by CurlyGirl »

Thomas,

You addressed your question to RRM and Wai... but I expect you won't have any objections about comments from other people on this forum.

So - in my view, I think the extreme competitiveness prevalent today is more a product of neoliberal capitalism than our biological tendencies. We are born into a world that does not expect us to enjoy a lot of leisure time, and indeed scorns us if we wish to scale down and slow down. So, people work like demons, while - though I don't wish to romanticise early human cultures - it is acknowledged by anthropologists that many pre-industrial societies 'worked' (in order to eat and survive) for half the hours that we do as modern people. So, in effect, we are working like demons, only to be able to afford the standard of living that modern advertising promotes as desirable. Men are increasingly being alienated by these requirements just as women have been, and I have a hunch that more and more men are feeling that whatever they do as 'breadwinners' will never be enough. (Though it is not just my hunch - read Robert Bly's Iron John, for example.)

The ideal 'family' for consumer society is in fact a single person, living alone, but with a salary that enables him/her to purchase all the modern conveniences and gadgets that are constantly being advertised as 'necessities' for a happy life. That way, the mass products of industry are not shared by a large family anymore, since, if each single young person has to buy his/her own fridge, microwave oven, TV, computer, etc, then industry would sell a whole lot more goods. This, in my view, has certainly (indirectly) contributed to the breakdown of the extended family, and even of the nuclear family. This is an entirely 'unnatural' situation from an evolutionary point of view - Christopher Lasch called it the 'culture of narcissism', and indeed, competitive, individualistic, narcissistic people (bred by modern society) are not able to face being parents with any eagerness or open-heartedness. Thus children are seen as a 'drain' on resources... not exactly a culture that believes in the future, is it? And what other species in 'nature' would voluntarily opt out of its evolutionary duty in this way?

I have been in academia for five years now and know very well the sort of pressures you are describing, Thomas, to get into the world of work and make enough money to fulfil one's dreams. I don't believe it is 'natural' to work as hard as we do, or to feel as though we need to earn six figures before we are 'eligible' to have a loving partner. But this is, I strongly believe, the message we receive from our culture, which contradicts the other implicit message of our culture that indeed, it is not wise to seek a long-term partner and 'settle down', for then we might lose the narcissistic personality and insecurity that together keep us all consuming like mad.
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Oscar
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Post by Oscar »

(tries to look like RRM but fails)

Not to mention that competition promotes inequality, which lowers group effectiveness. Group effectiveness is essential for survival . As such I don't believe in the 'survival of the fittest' theory.
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RRM
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Post by RRM »

(Hoping that this RRM suit makes me special)

Maybe overpopulation also plays a role. In a small group of people living 'in the wild', everybody is special, while living in a multi-billion people society, nothing about you seems even the least special anymore.
If you want to be special, you need to excell, and for this you need to work extremely hard, and indeed, even that will probably never be enough.
Living in a small group of people, cooperation is essential, while in this overcrowded society, competition dominates.
So, maybe neoliberal capitalism is the logical result of overpopulation; competition and exploitation instead of cooperation.
CurlyGirl
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Post by CurlyGirl »

Hear, hear, RRM and Oscar! Convincing views indeed.
dadasarah
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Post by dadasarah »

I think it's completely natural to want to improve oneself; however, to put too much emphasis on education for money-making is very damaging, I agree. Friendly competition is useful when the outcome is beneficial to all, but individuals caught in a race to smother everyone around them leads to a lonely life at the top.

Human potential is infinite.

We still (can) have small communities where everyone is special, and a global view can diminish uniqueness or put it into perspective. Cooperation becomes more challenging as the world becomes smaller, and requires greater skill and creativity. Education is a blessing.

I agree with what you say, CurlyGirl! I do think that slowing down might not be the answer for all; we must shift our energies into activities that help the world instead of hurting it. I think working very very hard at this is incredibly worthwhile. We would be offering the fruits of our labor to others who are less able or need inspiration, and perhaps choose not to have children in this lifetime (during these overpopulated years) to benefit others who wish to do so.
"Dada is the sun. Dada is the egg. Dada is the Police of the Police." - Richard Huelsenbeck
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Post by Corinne »

Right on RRM and Oscar! I agree.
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Mr. PC
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Re: Education and Capitalism

Post by Mr. PC »

There are institutions of learning where this atmosphere does not exist, so we can dismiss the theory that it's natural.

Capitalism is the cause, not the effect. Big business' want people who can make them the most money, and so institutions of education are made to bend to these pulls.

From what I've read, and heard from people in these situations, the effect is not as prevalent among doctoral students.
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