[lbo-talk] Re: Ivan Illich

[Gregory Lipman]

Budge wrote:
i do not want my surgeon to learn anatomy by "infusing it
with political meaning".  thanks, but no thanks.  as
imperfect as the current education systems is,
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This is certainly the most common, off-the-cuff criticism to this type of
thought. I think it follows the same type of logic the people criticize
Euro-style socialized medicine by saying "well, they have to wait nine
months for a triple bypass". Kind of skirting the issue that, sure, in the
U.S. you can get a triple bypass IF you hae the proper insurance and cash.
Also skirting the wider issues of how heart trouble usually comes from a
high fat/calorie diet and the insane over-medication of society. Certainly
Illich is utopianistic ("feel-good" if you like) but he directs a lot of his
analysis at the third world. What should come first, triple bypass surgery
for overweight Manhattanites or basic innoculations for poor Guatemalans? At
the least, Illich forces people to analyze the current socio-economic system
as a whole.
FWIW, here's his take on the surgery issue:
A "skill model" is a person who possesses a skill and is willing to
demonstrate its practice. A demonstration of this kind is frequently a
necessary resource for a potential learner. Modern inventions permit us to
incorporate demonstration into tape, film, or chart; yet one would hope
personal demonstration will remain in wide demand, especially in
communication skills. Some ten thousand adults have learned Spanish at our
Center at Cuernavaca--mostly highly motivated persons who wanted to acquire
near-native fluency in a second language. When they are faced with a choice
between carefully programmed instruction in a lab or drill sessions with two
other students and a native speaker following a rigid routine, most choose
the second.
For most widely shared skills, a person who demonstrates the skill is the
only human resource we ever need or get. Whether in speaking or driving, in
cooking or in the use of communication equipment, we are often barely
conscious of formal instruction and learning, especially after our first
experience of the materials in question. I see no reason why other complex
skills, such as the mechanical aspects of surgery and playing the fiddle, of
reading or the use of directories and catalogues, could not be learned in
the same way.
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