Neil Liss has raised some interesting questions on my last post, and I will try to address them here.
1. How stratified is knowledge and how educated is the general society as of now?
Well, the obvious answers can be found with a quick Google search of "education statistics". There, you will find links that point you to sites that say 99% of Americans are literate. That would seem to imply that a broad base of educated Americans exist. Anecdotal reports would suggest that the higher one is on the socio-economic scale, the higher the level of education. I'm sure statistics exist that could back up that claim...I simply haven't the time (or an impending doctoral thesis) to compel me to find them at the moment.
I recently read about the "Matthew Effect", alluding to the concept in Matthew 25:29, "...the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer." In some ways, I see the same thing happening in the general education of the populace. Suffice to say, I feel that knowledge is somewhat stratified at the moment, and the real danger is the continuation of this trend.
2. What is lost when knowledge becomes too cheap?
My simple answer:
Really, though, I think a great deal would be lost if knowledge became cheap. That depends entirely on your definition of cheap knowledge. In my opinion, People Magazine is cheap. The latest plot twists in "Kath and Kim" are cheap. And the latest scores of the Beavers or Ducks are cheap. They are easily accessible to even those of limited education, and they do have some entertainment value. Do they serve an escapist purpose? Of course they do, and they have their place as such.
On the other hand, long lasting, worthwhile knowledge shouldn't become cheap. That's why classic literature is sometimes described as those books you wish you had read, but don't actually want to read. All things of value come with some struggle, and this is particularly true of knowledge, and more importantly, wisdom.
At the same time, I must say that while the pursuit should be difficult, the opportunity for such pursuits should be widely and readily available. I think that is one of the most important accomplishments of the explosion of communication and information flow that is made possible by the internet revolution. Yes, there is a LOT of crap out there. But there is also a lot of solid, reliable information, and it is readily available to the masses, should they choose to seek it. In my view, one of the teacher's most important jobs is to inspire them to try.
