DailyBriefs.info PODCAST JDG 22pg curriculum PDF
John David Garcia
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curriculum and the educational organization which maximize creativity. It is our intention to make this curriculum and educational organization available to the maximum number of persons, regardless of their economic means.
A Lifetime Curriculum
The curriculum outlined on pages 284-305 is one that can be started by young children and continued into old age without being exhausted. A person wishing to maximize creativity in the shortest possible time would follow the curriculum approximately in the order given; but anyone should be able to take many different paths within this curriculum, including specializing at any time. All students would be counseled on the consequences of their actions, but encouraged to follow their instincts by doing what feels right for them without fear of making a wrong choice.
The objective is to make the totality of human knowledge readily and easily available to as many persons as possible in such a way that, if they wish it, they are constantly maximizing their rate of growth in creativity relative to their present intellectual and ethical potential. In order to do this we plot an optimal course through the curriculum for all octets or other groupings of students and let them modify the courses according to their own personal inclinations. We also make the feedback on their progress and that of other students readily available to them whenever they wish it, but on a private basis so that any particular student’s progress is known only to the student and his/her counselors. All other data is in statistical summaries and protects the anonymity of each student.
The expectation is that, under this system, learning and creativity will be seen as among the most joyful of human experiences. Students will learn to play the Game of Life for the joy it brings—without fear of punishment or expectation of extrinsic rewards. If their studies are disassociated Curriculum Structure An Overview and Sampling of the Curriculum Outline (pages 284-305) is outlined in lull beginning on page 284. ror eacn ol the thirteen levels or study, the Physical and Biological disciplines are set forth on left-hand pages, and corresponding Psychosocial and Integrative disciplines are elaborated on the right-hand pages.
A Lifetime Curriculum 283 from external reward and punishment and all students are respected for whatever choices they make, the students will optimize the curriculum for themselves. The essential requirements are to have the totality of human knowledge available and accessible at all times without extrinsic rewards or punishments associated with it. This may be done as follows:
We divide the totality of human knowledge into three primary areas, or dimensions, because human beings normally perceive the integrated whole of the cosmos as three distinct types of phenomena. These are the physical, the biological, and the psychosocial. There are many levels of knowledge within each of these dimensions that are normally associated within our archaeological and cultural history. Indeed, what integrates the three dimensions into a whole is the evolutionary perspective (as in the first four chapters) by which we see human history as a continuation of our biological evolution and biological evolution as a continuation of material evolution. Therefore, at each level (see chart, p. 282) the student is presented with the three distinct areas of study—plus a fourth discipline, which is an ethical evolutionary-historical-artistic integration of the first three.
Art integrates knowledge at the unconscious level. The entire program integrates knowledge by having ontogeny recapitulate phylogeny at the psychosocial level. Students learn in an order, context, and manner similar to that in which the human race learned the same material and are given an opportunity to rediscover this knowledge. Everything they learn is always related to everything they know in a meaningful, practical way.
Within each of these four areas there exist side-by-side the theoretical ideas and the practice of these ideas in technology. This gives the overall structure for the curriculum as shown on the facing page.
At each level there is artistic expression in music, literature, plastic arts, dance, humanities, and religious myth that ties all the knowledge together at the unconscious level. Therefore the students have the opportunity to learn and practice the arts appropriate to each level with the technology of that level.
At each level the students are taught by at least one teaching octet that splits the four primary areas of study among them, with one male-female pair team-teaching each of the four areas. A teaching pair is responsible for both the theoretical and the practical studies in each of the four areas.
Therefore, each teaching octet must contain at least one male-female pair that is expert in each of the four dimensions: physical, biological, psychosocial, and integrative (ethical, humanistic, artistic). Each male-female team-teaching pair can effectively handle up to 32 students at a time. The day is divided into eight periods of one hour each, with the teachers teaching four periods and spending four periods in counseling, preparation, and personal research. At the lower levels the young students spend a considerable amount of their time in relevant play and, possibly, taking naps, according to the student’s wishes. Some of the counseling is reserved for parents
284
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Avg. Avg.
Physical
Biological
Level Age
Physical Theory Physical Practice
Biological Theory Biological Practice
1.00 3.00 Cause and effect The lever The human body Body care
1.25 3.25 Clubs and poles Modifying trees and Animal bodies; small How to care for a pet
branches domestic mammals
1.50 3.50 Different stones and Using stones Edible plants and their Gathering edible plants
their properties properties and mushrooms
1.75 3.75 Shaping stone Building simple stone Edible animals and fish Hunting and fishing
tools
2.00 4.00 Shaping wood with Use stone tools to Food preparation and Cleaning and preparing
stone modify poles and clubs preservation small game and fish
using bone, wood, and stone
2.25 4.25 Handling fire Use of stone & wood to Advanced food Cooking vegetables,
control fire; use of fire preparation fish, and meat on open
to harden spear points fires
Hafted axes and Elementary tanning and Skinning animals and
choppers are made; use of bone, vines, and fish, preserving leather,
stone fire carriers, vegetable fiber advanced cooking,
simple weaving and preparing vines and
knotting of vines & vegetable fiber
leather
2.75 4.75 The bow and fire making Making bows and Advanced food prepara- Advanced cooking;
starting fires tion; advanced tanning clothes from animal
and bone work hides; use of sinew and
thongs; hunting with dogs
Advanced food prepara- Cooking, drying, and tion including drying, smoking with clay pots; smoking, & curing; preparing and using
health care medicinal herbs and
poultices
Making stone tools to Gathering seeds and Gardening; preparing
make other stone tools; planting edible plants; soil and cultivation;
making advanced bows basic first aid practice of first aid
and arrows; bellows and advanced pottery; building a large raft as a group project
3.50 5.50 Neolithic tools; construe- Construction of simple The biological need for Construction of lean-tos
tion of shelters; ad- neolithic tools; the use shelter; building of lean- and teepees; more
vanced counting; how to of tally marks and tos and simple teepees; advanced gardening;
make a small dugout stored pebbles; building clothes for extreme making bone needles
canoe and paddle a small dugout canoe cold; simple agriculture and a parka
and paddle
3.75 5.75 How to construct Building advanced How to make boots and Construction of complete
advanced neolithic tools neolithic tools; working moccasins from leather wardrobes of leather,
to work stone and wood; wood, simple carpentry, and plant fiber; how to plant, and animal fiber;
more advanced counting building semi-permanent know when to plant and more advanced garden
and Arabic numbers to structures; advanced when to harvest; taking ing and animal
10; how to build a large tallying systems; build- care of goats and sheep husbandry
rliinniit r.anne inn a larne riunout canoe
3.25 5.25 Advanced paleolithic
stone work of knives and axes; advanced bow making; advanced clay work without wheel; large rafts
3.00 5.00 The use of clay and the Making and baking clay
bow and arrow; design pots on an open fire; of simple rafts making and using simple
bows and arrows
2.50 4.50 Advanced fire handling
and control combining wood and stone tools, theory and design
A Lifetime Curriculum
285
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Psychosocial
Integration
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
1.00
3.00
How to communicate
Exchange of information
i Ethics of personal obligation
Free-form drawing and painting, simple songs
1.25
3.25
Verification of information
Repeat same message from different source
Truth and lying, paleolithic stories
Free-form drawing and painting, paleolithic stories, drums
1.50
3.50
Games of information
Teams for sending and receiving messages
Advantages of cooperating vs competing; paleolithic stories
Songs, dancing, drawing, painting, telling stories
175
3.75
Making pictures for
information
communication
Drawing picture stories
Obligations of making oneself understood
Free-form art, stickfigure drawing for stories
2.00
4.00
Advanced picture stories
Making up stories with pictures
Ethics of separating fact from fiction; paleolithic stories
Wood carving and freeform painting; paleolithic stories created and drawn
2.25
4.25
Picture symbols which stand for complex events
Team communications games and "charades” using picture symbols
The difference between a symbol and the thing it symbolizes; paleolithic stories
Charcoal drawing on bark and stone; universal religious symbols; creating stories
2.50
4.50
Advanced picture symbols and counting
Making up stories by stringing together picture symbols which everyone can understand
Creation myths of paleolithic people
Making up creation myths and testing them
2.75
4.75
Rebus writing combined with picture writing
Making up stories with rebus and picture writing
Advanced creation myths of Native Americans and some religious beliefs, symbols
Native American art and what it expresses; freeform art for what students value
3.00
5.00
The notion of an alphabet and sound symbols
Stringing sound symbols together to make a word
The religions of native
Americans and the evolutionary ethic
Percussion instruments, music, carving, dance, and art to express religious feelings
3.25
5.25
Reading advanced paleolithic stories with evolutionary ethical theme
Writing simple stories and accounts using alphabet, rebus writing, or pictures as desired
The importance of separating truth from fiction in our writing to avoid misleading others
Late paleolithic art and religion; student’s expression of his own feelings about them
3.50
5.50
Reading stories and history of early neolithic life with evolutionary ethics theme
More writing of stories and accounts using alphabet, rebus writing, and pictures as desired
Simple analysis of neolithic culture and religions in light of the evolutionary ethic
Neolithic art and stone carving; clay figurines; self-expression of students
3.75
5.75
Reading more complex stories of neolithic life about religion and creativity in ancient Jericho and
Mesopotamia
More writing of stories and accounts using alphabet and rebus writing, but no pictures, show difficulty of communicating numerical concepts over 10
Analysis of why neolithic culture advanced so slowly before the beginning of Sumer; the energy that went into religious ritual & the corrupt priestly bureaucracy
The flute and harp and the neolithic music possible for them; advanced neolithic art and religion; selfexpression in all art media
286
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Physical
Biological
Physical Theory
Physical Practice | Biological Theory | Biological Practice
4.00 6.00 The concept of the
wheel; smelting metal from ore; making a simple calendar from astronomical observations; counting and use of Arabic numbers to 1,000 for calendar making, time-keeping, and other uses
Making a potter’s wheel and using it; making an advanced bellows driven by a pedaled wheel to heat a charcoal, earth, and clay oven; making a spinning wheel, a sundial, a simple loom
Advanced gardening; the making of cloth from plant and animal fiber; advanced care and management of sheep and goats; gourmet cooking with spices and herbs using ovens; making more advanced permanent shelters of wood and stone
Spinning fiber; simple weaving of cloth with no loom; wheat and corn cultivation; making bread with & without yeast; breeding sheep and goats with seasons; training dogs; constructing small stone and wood huts
4.25 6.25 More advanced metal¬
lurgy; the saw and how to use it; how to cast bronze tools, nails, the chisel, and metal hammer; advanced use of wheels; simple arithmetic; adding and subtraction with Arabic numbers; simple geometry
Construction of wheeled push carts; construct bronze tools and show how inferior they are to steel tools; use steel tools in all construction; use pick and shovel and push cart to build small irrigation system and buildings; show how arithmetic and simple geometry help construct these projects
Group design of large irrigated garden, suitable for selfsufficiency of 16 persons; advanced looms and weaving; advanced animal husbandry and selective breeding of sheep and goats; care of chickens and cattle
Construct and plant garden; advanced cooking and preserving of food; fermentation to produce alcohol, distillation of alcohol with copper still
4.50 6.50
Advanced bronze-based Smelt and cast advanced metallurgy and smelting bronzes and similar of other similar metals; metals; make and cast identify related ores and glass sheets; make other rocks; simple mirrors of metal and glass technology; glass; build an oxcart; building an oxcart from show how arithmetic wood, leather, and and geometry are bronze; simple multipli- useful; use detailed cation with Arabic astronomical observa
numbers; more simple tions to make a better geometry, right trian- calendar, and show how gles, and the circle; arithmetic and geometry advanced calendar- help; build a small
making & time-keeping; sailing and rowing boat howto make a simple boat with sail and oars
Show how to use a Advanced agriculture simple plow and and gardening projects;
fertilizer to prepare land; make fertilizers, show how to make crossbreed and hybridize fertilizer from minerals plants; grow grain and and organic substances; grapes; ferment to show how to cross- alcohol, distill alcohol, pollinate and hybridize use alcohol as fuel and plants and trees; show preservative, use as howto use advanced disinfectant; cultivation
fermentation techniques of yeasts, and advanced to produce wine and baking
alcohol; discuss effects of alcohol as preservative and drug; storage and preservation of grain
4.75 6.75
More advanced arithmetic and geometry, division of numbers, simple fractions; creation of more advanced sailing craft, the ideas behind a horse-drawn war chariot, the compound bow with metal-tipped arrows, howto construct the two-person war chariot and its relationship to the oxcart; the Babylonian abacus theory
Show how arithmetic and geometry contribute to following technologies built by groups; build a more advanced sailing craft; build a war chariot using steel, wood, and leather; show how much more difficult it was with only bronze; build compound bow with bronze-tipped arrows; practice with bow until expert, and practice with war chariot
Domestication and use of the horse as a biological machine, special care and breeding required by horse, horse behavior and anatomy, equipment for controlling horse and how to make it
Horse training and use for farming and pulling chariots, speed comparisons, training horse for chariots and bareback riding
A Lifetime Curriculum
287
Avg.
Avg.
Psychosocial
integration
Level
Age
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
4.00 6.00 Reading stories in Write stories of fiction The ethics of larger Students construct rules
personal terms about and personal activity groups; how it is and goals of cooperative
the possible prehistory using only alphabet; possible for several behavior in order to
of the Sumerian people; show how convenient it octets to cooperate if build large-scale
vocabulary development is to know when a they have common rules projects, buildings,
and the practical use of sentence starts and and objectives; how irrigation systems to
grammar ends, and how punctua- ancient civilizations benefit hundreds of
tion prevents were slave-based and persons
misunderstanding ruled by priestly bureaucracies
4.25 6.25 Realistic but fictionalized Write stories of fiction The ethics of individual
history of the founding and personal activity; rights; show that taking
of Sumer and how write essays on behav- rights away from
Sumerians created their ioral ethics; use proper individuals for a larger culture up to the time of punctuation for clarity group damages the
the invention of writing; of ideas and teach group it is supposed to
show how the religion correct punctuation for help; show how creativand its ritual became students; have students ity is important to
overwhelmingly ethically analyze in progress and how
important, and how by writing the history of liberty is important for
controlling food the Sumer and show what creativity
priests controlled might be wrong people, warriors, and kings
Students study Sumerian art and try to express their own feeling about Sumer in ceramic figurines similar to the Sumerians; stone sculpture project; reproduction of Sumerian relics and artifacts
4.50 6.50
Read a simple non- Write an analysis of fictional history of Sumerians’ history and Sumer, show their their collapse; write an writing and accounting analysis of their myths systems and note their and what they mean; defects; show how clay write your own myths to as prime resource led to communicate the same cuneiform; endurance of ideas as the Sumerian clay records; read full myths; write a creative accounts of Sumerian story of your own myths, including Garden choosing of Eden; Gilgamesh, and Noah
Ethical analysis of the Creative synthesis; high rise and fall of Sumer, Sumerian art compared the ethical nature of the to art of conquerors; conquerors of Sumer, artistic group project to their strengths and communicate the rise weaknesses, the and fall of Sumer
weakness of theocracy through music, painting, and hereditary aristoc- sculpture, and dance racy, why these entropic systems went on for so long
4.75 6.75
Read a simple world Write an ethical analysis history of the Ecumene of each major culture from the fall of Sumer to and why they could not 600 BC; show how little significantly improve on
progress and creativity Sumerian civilization;
there was until then; write an analysis and
show how Aryans interpretation of their
spread Sumerian literary works; write
civilization to the entire your own story to old world and possibly express what you feel to the Americas; read about this period of literary examples of history
each major culture
An ethical analysis of The art forms of the Sumerian religion Babylon, Egypt, Crete, and those that followed; pre-Confucianist China, show how ethical vitality and India; make your in primitive cultures can own version of these art lead to conquest of styles; improvise music more advanced civiliza- on the instruments of tions; show how these times; do a group
religions that seek art project on this reward for ethical period of history behavior are destructive; show how it was necessary to invent morality
288
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Physical Biological
Avg. Avg. _'__
level Age Physical Theory Physical Practice Biological Theory Biological Practice
5.00 7.00 The smelting of iron and Smelt ore, forge from Advanced study of Horse handling, training,
simple steels, forging iron a complete set of equestrianship for war, and riding; grooming
iron and blacksmithing; tack for a horse, plus shooting a compound and care of horses,
simple astronomy and horseshoes; forge and bow while riding shodding and equipping
navigation, advanced make iron sword and horseback, the use of the horse, the use of
sailing ships that might spear; make large clay the lance and the sword different bits, saddles,
have crossed the jars for storing grain, from horseback; and stirrups; mammalian
Atlantic; the iron forging oils, and wine; begin mammalian reproduction reproduction and
necessary for controlling one-year sailing ship in detail, nursing and breeding; comparisons
a horse in battle; pre- construction project for care of young mammals; of dogs, cats, sheep,
Greek geometry and group; show how processing milk into goats, cows, and
arithmetic using Arabic geometry and arithmetic cheese and yogurt horses; cheese and
numbers, advanced help in the above yogurt from cow’s milk;
theory of the Babylonian projects, build a extract oil from fruits
abacus Babylonian abacus and nuts; make and
store wine; optimal
physical training of the
human body
5.25 7.25 Continue with projects Continue with projects Continue with projects Continue with projects
begun previous quarter begun previous quarter begun previous quarter begun previous quarter
5.50 7.50 Advanced metallurgy, Continue work on sailing Human reproduction, Advanced breeding of
casting bronze sculp- ship, do precision comparative male and animals and plants,
tures through lost wax bronze castings; make female anatomy, extraction of fats and
process; making of hard knives using hard steel hormonal cycles, oils from vegetables,
steel alloys, nails, bolts, alloys; make nails, bolts, fertility cycles, puberty fruits, and seeds;
and screws; making screws, presses, and and emotions, lactation extract animal fats from
advanced presses and catapults; show and nursing, care of carcasses and meat;
catapults; fractions and applications of mathe- infants, normal patterns work in nursery caring
decimals, empirical matics and geometry to of growth for young for small children 1-2
basis of Pythagorean the above boys and girls years old
Theorem, right triangles, circles, spheres, and parallelopipeds
5.75 7.75 The geometry and Construct the Pythago- Human health and the
mathematics of rean solids, use several Greek medical tradition,
Pythagoras, several approaches to making Aesculapius and
proofs of his theorem, dodecahedron and Hippocrates; a healthy
the Pythagorean solids, icosahedron; construct mind in a healthy body; the harmonics of navigational computer, physical culture and
vibrating strings and the advanced abacus; optimal health; diet,
physical basis of music; construct glass bottles, exercise, and health
geometry applied to mirrors, parabolic navigation, astronomy, mirror; finish sailing ship building and surveying; the technology of glass, glass blowing
Gardening and preparation of food for optimal health, an exercise plan for lifetime health, strength, and energy; construction of a glass still; care of young infants
A Lifetime Curriculum
289
Psychosocial Integration
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice Integrative Theory I Integrative Practice
5.00 7.00 The story of Zarathustra; Analysis of ancient Ethical analysis of Ancient Persian art,
how he changed the Persian history and Zoroastrian religion and architecture, music;
Persian people and how religion; write a story of ethical system, strengths analyze and reproduce
they went on to create how Persian history and weaknesses, and style according to your
the world’s greatest might have been how it was doomed to own feeling about this
empire until conquered different if the religion failure culture; do a group
by Alexander; the had been different project expressing
Zoroastrian religion and ancient Persian
myths in detail civilization
5.25 7.25
The story of Confucius and his teachings and how they changed China; the books of Confucius are read, discussed, and compared to the philosophy of Lao Tse;the interaction of Taoism and Confucianism in Chinese history is discussed
Written analysis of each of the books of Confucius and stories about Confucius; an analysis about Lao Tse; writing of imaginative stories about life in China; essay on how you personally feel about Confucius and Lao Tse
Ethical analysis of
Confucianism and
Taoism as ethical systems, as ways to knowledge, and the civilization they produced; what was right and what was wrong and predictions
Ancient Chinese art to
Tang dynasty, analyze and reproduce style in sculpture, painting, and music; use Chinese style to express your feelings about classical Chinese culture in group art project
5.50 7.50
The story of Buddha and Write essays on the his teachings and how meaning of Hinduism they changed India and and Buddhism and how the East; emphasize the they relate to you; how basic ethical nature of Buddhism and Hinduism Buddhism and its relate to each other, tolerant compassion how you would feel and toward others; show act if you were suddenly
how Buddhists became put into a Buddhist or
psychosocial specialists Hindu society; give and stopped innovating evidence for and against in the natural world; reincarnation, what compare to Hinduism impact these societies have on the world, predictions
Hinduism and Buddhism Experience directly in light of the evolution- Buddhist and Hindu ary ethic and the eight meditation and its Ethical Principles; the comparison to autohistorical impact and poiesis; Buddhist and consequences of those Hindu art; draw mandareligions; the ethics of las of your own, sculpt the caste system; why in Buddhist and Hindu Buddhism is more style, make up mandasuccessful as an export; las, learn to play common Aryan origins Buddhist and Hindu of Hinduism, Buddhism music; perform dances, and Zoroastrianism do art works expressing how you feel about Buddhism and/or Hinduism
5.75 7.75 Early Greek history to
Thales; the ///arfand the
Odyssey, the story of
Thales and Pythagoras and how they laid part of the foundations of Western civilization; the rational and mystical as reflected in those two men; Thales and ethics; Pythagoras and religion
Write an essay on the ethics of the characters in the Iliad and Odyssey, the ethics of the mythical characters and gods, the attitudes toward women and their role in Greece; makeup a Greek-style myth of your own
The warlike Aryan tradition and how it led to Greek culture, the obsession with domination and personal freedom, the oppressiveness of a slave-based culture, the extreme military specialization of Sparta; why a love of truth and intelligence is not enough if there is no love for others
Geometric art using
Pythagorean and Greek principles, composition of music using Pythagorean theory of harmonic scales; begin a sculpture project in the Greek style; Greek music and dances including those of Sparta
290
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Avg.
Avg.
Physical
Biological
Level
Age
Physical Theory
Physical Practice
Biological Theory Biological Practice
6.00
8.00
The geometry of Euclid using modern algebraic notation, introduction to algebra as it applies to geometry, use of geometry and vectors to sail against the wind; give many examples of the practical applications of geometry in many fields; the Atomic Theory of matter of Democritus; other Greek theories of water, earth, air, and fire
Use geometry to calculate size of the earth, distance to the sun, size of the sun; use geometry to construct and use a large catapult; build a bridge by geometric design; work with glass making lenses and mirrors; begin design of ship that can sail against the wind; practice sailing the ship built last year
Internal anatomy of vertebrates, fish, frog, rat, and pig; the true role of each organ and what Aristotle and Galen thought they were for; Greek theories of evolution compared to modern theory; point out how dangerous it is for authorities to be wrong; the value of doubt
Dissection offish, frog, rat, and pig; identification of all major organs and bones; practice in meat processing, packaging, and preservation without refrigeration; continue practice in caring for young infants in first year
6.25
8.25
Continue the previous work and continue with the geometry and science of Archimedes; use modern algebraic notation and point out how difficult the work of Archimedes was because of notation; theory of pulliesand parabolic mirrors; show how abacus gives answers to the notational problem
Construct a system of pulleys and a block and tackle; construct parabolic mirrors to collect solar energy by heating water, and work out schedule for how mirrors should be aligned as function of time of year and day; finish design of ship
Detailed survey of
Greco-Roman medicine and the modern versions of these beliefs; the complete guide to the use of herbs and medicines for curing and preventing illnesses; taxonomy of herbs; review Greco-Roman theories of biology
Plant a garden of medicinal herbs, take field trips to collect medicinal herbs, prepare poultices and medicines as have been verified by time and modern usage
6.50
8.50
The works of Archimedes continued, the school of Alexandria, and the continuation of Greek mathematics, science, and technology; full development of algebra and trigonometry using modern notation; solid geometry and trigonometry, applications to navigation, the construction of lenses
The design and construction of water pumps, the design and construction of steam turbines; practical lens making continued; begin modification of ship made in fifth year to sail against the wind; glass blowing continued
Study of preventive medicine; germ theory of infection and how hygiene can prevent it (although Greeks had lenses, no one discovered germs for 2000years), parasites and their life cycles, the danger of eating meat, the importance of cooking and cleanliness
Use lenses to study small organisms, examine parasites in intestines of animals, show how maggots hatch from fly’s eggs; basic entomology observed; use microscope to study basic parasitology
6.75 8.75 Continuation of the
study of the science, technology, and mathematics of the School of Alexandria
Continuation of the above; make crude telescope and microscopes
The study of microscopic life; how lack of scientific method inhibited medical practice for 2000 years; how to prevent the spread of disease; viruses as submicroscopic organisms not to be discovered for 2000 years
Study of amoebas and major human parasites; animals as sources of infection for humans; the parasitic worms
A Lifetime Curriculum
291
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Psychosocial
Integration
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
6.00
8.00
Greek history from
Thales to the Roman conquest, the Dialogues of Plato, a survey of Aristotle, a survey of the Greek plays and the fables of Aesop, the ethical teaching of Socrates, the Macedonian interlude and Alexander
Perform one play by
Sophocles and one by
Euripides; write a critique of Greek culture and why it failed; write a critique on Socrates’ life and on whether Socrates should have drunk the hemlock; write an epic poem on Greece
Ethical analysis of the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; show how the lack of love and the will to power forced Greece to destroy itself; consider that the great thinkers of Greece never had power nor were they free of tyrants except at first
Write a play in the Greek style on Greek themes, critique one another’s plays, finish sculpture in the Greek style, do a group art project on the meaning of Greece
6.25
8.25
Greco-Roman history from the start of Rome to the time of Jesus; analysis of the works of Lucretius; what the Romans had of their own and what they learned from the Greeks; Roman ethics and theories of government; how tyranny can always replace a democracy by promising to take from the rich and give to the poor
Learn Greek and Latin roots to English and scientific and technical terms, emphasis on nouns; the Greek alphabet, brief survey of Greek and Roman grammar and its complexity; show how English grammar is simpler, more practical; show how as vocabulary expands grammar can be simplified; write essay comparing Greek and Roman culture
Sexual ethics and how the Greeks and Romans related to them; pleasure as an end in itself; the exploitation of women, exclusion of women from all important decision making, women as sexual objects, the absolute authority of the father; Roman law and evolutionary ethics, subservience to the state and ethical principles
Design a domed and vaulted building made of wood and masonry, calculate stresses, and show the use of the arch and dome; play Roman music and practice sports, do a group art project on the meaning of Rome under Augustus
6.50
8.50 The history of the Jews; read all ofth eOld Testament, the ethical principles derivable from the Old Testament, the mixing of ethics, techniques, and ritual; the Jewish interaction with the Aryans after the Babylonian captivity, the resistance to Hellenization, the conquest by Rome, the Jewish bureaucracy, sampling of the Talmud
Essay analyzing Old
Testament as a historical account and as a myth; compare to Iliad and Odyssey; Jewish laws are analyzed in terms of their ethical value and their political implication; essay on Judaism as an ethical system
Ethical analysis of the
Old Testament, personal ethics, health implications of many of the Jewish laws; show how the means became the ends and how ritual destroys ethics; the destructiveness of becoming specialized in one’s own religion
Jewish abstract art in the form of the Menorah and the Star of David; paint an art work using Jewish symbols to express a Jewish theme without including the human form or animals; Jewish music and Passover songs
6.75
8.75
The New Testament and the life of Jesus, the ethical teaching of Jesus, Jesus as a Jewish reformer and rabbi, the deification of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus in relationship to the Greco-Roman religion, St. Paul and Christianity as a synthesis of Judaism, Jesus, and Greco-Roman religion and philosophy
Write an essay on Jesus and the meaning of his life and death, essay on the criticisms of Jesus against traditions and the Jewish bureaucracy, essay on whether Jesus could have studied in India and/or Tibet, essay on Jesus’ teaching and the school of Alexandria
Ethical analysis of the
New Testament, the high ethical content in the teachings of Jesus compared to their corruption by St. Paul, the mythification & deification of Jesus in the Roman tradition by those who did not know him, analysis of synoptic gospels showing how they were all derived from a simpler, common source
Draw and paint art showing the unification of Judaism, the teachings of Jesus, and the Greco-Roman religion (Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel is best model); write a poem expressing this synthesis; do a group art project expressing the essence of Christianity
292
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Avg Avg Physical Biological
Level Age Physical Theory Physical Practice Biological Theory Biological Practice
7.00 9.00 Consolidation of Greek Use geometry and Further study of Microscopic observation
mathematics and mathematics to design a microscopic life, of microorganisms,
geometry using modern cathedral using Roman protozoa, mites, worms, classification in modern notation; practical arches, vaults, and and other microorga- terms; observe sea chemistry in purifying buttresses; isolate nisms that live on and in plankton, sponges, and common elements from elements from their mammals; diseases hydra, and observation their ores and making ores; make acids and they cause and symbio- of their life cycles chemical compounds simple compounds, gun sis they provide such as sulphuric acid, powder, and paints; nitric acid, hydrochloric make mortars and acid, aqua regia, and cements; continue
gun powder modification of sailing
ship
7.25 9.25
Mathematical modeling of nature through advanced algebra, geometry, and trigonometry; derive solutions to quadratic and cubic equations; advanced navigation, the compass and the theory of the sextant; advanced geometry, trigonometry of arches, domes and vaults
Masonry work, making stone arches & vaults; begin construction of small wooden house with some masonry; continue to work with lenses and practical optics, make large reflecting telescope, make better microscope; make additional chemical compounds, acids and paints, dyes and cements; construction of an astrolabe; practical astronomy; finish modifications on sailing ship
Animal systematics, invertebrate zoology, comparative organ systems, organ structure and function, cell theory of animal structures
Laboratory dissection and study of the invertebrate phyla in an evolutionary context; detailed experimentation for function of organ systems and microhistology
7.50 9.50 Mathematical modeling
of nature continued; quartic equations; heliocentric model of solar system compared to Ptolemaic; comparison of Viking ships as fast raiders to more seaworthy sailing ships; prepare for two-week ocean trip, theory of alchemy
Continue work with wood and masonry in house; begin construction of accurate water and weighted clock; begin construction of astronomical telescope with instruments; alchemical preparation for isolating elements and making compounds; the alchemical symbols as archetypes
Continue classification of invertebrates for all remaining major phyla, specifying organ functions and histology; show how all metazoa have same types of cells and all start as single cell, simple embryo egg
Laboratory dissection and microscopic observation of major invertebrate phyla; tissue and embryology; transition species to vertebrates, tunicates, and amphioxus
7.75 9.75 Begin study of conics Finish wooden house; Continue classification
and analytical geometry; using telescope and of invertebrates;
begin study of the clocks, begin observa- compare with anatomy
dynamics of falling tions of movements of of simpler vertebrates;
bodies and the pendu- planets and earth study all organs and
lum; continue study of relative to sun, and their physiology and
alchemy, showing how deduce Kepler’s laws; function; identify cells
acceptance of wrong take a two-week ocean common to vertebrates hypotheses impeded trip; begin construction and invertebrates
progress; consider of sextant
measurements of time, temperature, and position
Microscopic observations and dissection of simple vertebrates and their organs; observation of simple embryology and comparison to invertebrate embryology; full dissection of shark
A Lifetime Curriculum
293
Psychosocial
Psychosocial Theory
Integration
7.00 9.00 The Roman Empire and Write speculative essay The ethical decay of Finish design of cathe
its interaction with on how Roman Empire Rome; Roman bureauc- dral; paint Christian
Christianity, the Greco- might have endured and racy; how the Catholic symbols that express
Roman disdain tor what the world would be bureaucracy established what is best in Christian
manual labor, the like if it had; write itself; Catholic intoler- ity; sing Gregorian
Christian disdain for the speculative essay on ance of deviant views; chants in Latin after
natural world, the how Christianity would persecution of heretics; studying translations;
Gnostic Christians, the have developed if the inferiority complex do an art project
stagnation and disinte- Gnostics had not been about pagan knowledge; expressing the meaning
gration of the Roman persecuted the destruction of of the Catholic church
Empire until the rise of Alexandrian library;
Islam Hypatia
7.25 9.25 The rise of Islam; read Essay on why so many Islam as a closed Islamic abstract art;
the Koran; early history Jews rejected Islam; system; how Islam how lack of representa
of Arabia to 7th century; essay on why Islam was induces fanaticism; its tional art diminishes
relationship of Islam to able to grow and expand comparison to Christian- creativity; draw abstract
Zoroastrianism, so rapidly; essay on the ity; why Christianity is designs in the Islamic
Judaism, Christianity, ethical contradictions more open in spite of style; Islamic mandalas;
and the surrounding within Islam compared church bureaucracy; paint representational
cultures; the political to Judaism and Islam and creativity; the art of Islam; compare to
vacuum in the Middle Christianity reason for Islam Persian and Mogul art
East declining as Christianity forms
rose
7.50 9.50 The great theologians, Essays on the “proofs” The dominance of Compare Byzantine with
St. Augustine, St. of the existence of God ideology and bureauc- Western religious art
Gregory, Averroes, and the ontological racy over ethics and and paint a synthesis of
Avicena, Maimonides, arguments; essay on the truth, the preservation the two; paint a synthe
St. Anselm, Abelard; humanizing role of the and distortion of the sis of Christian, Chinese,
show their depth and Church while it bureau- teachings of Jesus, the Hindu, and Muslim art
breadth of vision; the cratically decayed; fundamental power of of the period; begin
weakness of having essay on priestly the teachings of Jesus in study of the organ
orthodoxy to defend; celibacy and its implica- spite of the negative
the Holy Roman Empire tions; write your own elements
and its relationship to ideas about God Islam, India, and China;
Charlemagne and his successors
7.75 9.75 St. Thomas Aquinas and Write essay on the The relationship of Study and do detailed
the rise of the Holy theology of St. Thomas rational theology to drawings of major
Roman Empire; the Aquinas, indicating the mathematics; the cathedrals; plan to
feedback produced by holes in his arguments; church as an arbiter of implement construction
the great schism; the essay on Thomistic power between barbar- of cathedral design;
decline of Byzantium ethics; the schism ian states; the moral begin construction on
relative to the newly analyzed in theological authority of the church Vio scale model in stone
emerging West; Roger and bureaucratic terms, in a world of brute force;
Bacon and the rise of why schism was so the cathedral as the
science; the apparent important to Western synthesis of Western
cultural superiority of progress technology, art, and
Islam, India, China, and religion
Byzantium
294
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Physical
Biological
Physical Theory Physical Practice
Biological Theory Biological Practice
8.00 10.00 Continue with study of analytical geometry; begin solid analytical geometry using Cartesian notation; study the design of clocks, thermometers, and astronomical instruments; a study of Kepler and his ideas about nature and the music of the spheres
Continue with minicathedral building project; build fullfledged observatory with telescopes, but in spirit of Tycho Brahe make observations to deduce Kepler's laws; take two-week ocean voyage on sailing ship; discuss how Europe extended itself throughout the world in the 16th century
Continue vertebrate comparative anatomy through higher mammals and relate to human anatomy; show how embryology of all vertebrates overlaps at stages; relate to Greek evolutionary theories
Oissect and study vertebrate anatomy, tissues, and organs; go through modern systematics for all major mammalian orders; study embryology of related groups with microscope; the fetal pig and its full dissection
8.25 10.25
The early basis of the Continue observation scientific revolution, project, build improved
Francis Bacon’s Novum clocks, finish sextant,
Organum, Boyle's finish mini-cathedral,
studies, Galileo, the study map making and
inventions of Leonardo various forms of map da Vinci, the notion of projections; set up experimental “proof”; experiments to test
finish analytical geome- Boyle’s laws, simple gas try and learn elementary laws, experiments to calculus of variations, test circulation of the the concept of limit, and blood early concepts of calculus to explain Kepler’s laws
Human anatomy in Dissect human cadavers, detail; all organs, male and female;
tissues and bones, observe tissues, and gross structure of the relate to other mammals; brain; embryology using show similarity of all the fetal pig; use organs for all mammals;
anatomical drawings of note how different da Vinci and Vesalius, human brain is plus Gray’s Anatomy, these integrated studies will last a year
8.50 10.50 The Newtonian synthe- Begin making windmill Continue studies of Continue anatomical
sis; full study using and waterwheel; predict human anatomy and dissection and micro
modern notation of the orbits of the planets embryology scopic studies; learn
Principia Mathematica using Newton's laws micro-techniques and
and the Opticks\ derive and a few astronomical make your own slides
Newton’s laws from observations; predict
Kepler’s observations; the eclipses of the sun derive calculus from the by the moon at different need to mathematically spots of interest on the describe the laws of earth; repeat Newton's motion and gravity experiments showing
that light is a system of particles, and that white light contains the spectrum
8.75 10.75 Derive the calculus up to Continue work on Continue studies of Continue work of
the use of simple windmill and waterwheel; human anatomy previous quarter
differential equations; build a Newtonian
derive the formulas for reflecting telescope; optics and the creation built a chromatically
of compound lenses; corrected set of
compare Newton’s and compound lenses for
Leibnitz’ approach the telescope already
constructed; make an improved microscope
A Lifetime Curriculum
295
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Psychosocial
Integration
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
8.00 10.00
The rise of humanism leading to the Renaissance and the Reformation; the writings of Erasmus, Luther, and Calvin; the Council of Trent and the rise of the Jesuit order; Giordano Bruno, the philosophy of Descartes, and a review of his contemporaries
Essay on the ethical implications of the
Reformation; were the
Protestants any less bureaucratic? mutual discussion of essays among the octets; essay on the ethical implications of the scientific method and the new philosophy
The literary synthesis,
Dante’s Divina Comedia,
Cervantes’ Don Quixote,
Marlowe's Dr. Faustus', the music of Monteverde and Palestrina; the art of Bosch, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo
Write an epic poem about the Christian view of Hell; write a play about a modern Don Quixote; continue study of organ and harpsichord; compose and perform music in the style of Monteverde and Palestrina
8.25 10.25
Hobbes, Montaigne, and
Spinoza; read Spinoza’s
Ethics without analyzing proofs and note how this is a huge leap over the philosophy of Descartes and is the first totally rational treatment of ethics in history
Apply Spinoza's ethics to solving problems in practical ethics, politics, and religion; refate Spinoza’s ethics to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism; apply Spinoza's model to formulating a model of the universe and evolution; write an essay on the meaning of Spinoza
The literary synthesis continues; read critically Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Hamlet, study the music of Handel; study advanced musical theory and composition
Continue study of organ and harpsichord; build a harpsichord as a group project; write a last act to Wam/e/in which Hamlet lives; play the music of Handel
8.50 10.50 The philosophical contemporaries of Spinoza, Leibnitz, Locke, and Hume on improving the understanding; world history from 1000 AD to 1775
8.75 10.75 Human rights and 18th century philosophy; Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, and the Encyclopedists; the American Revolution; the philosophy and writings of Thomas Jefferson, the social contract, and the Federalist Papers
Essay on the hostility to
Spinoza; an ethical analysis of the lives of
Spinoza and Leibnitz; essay on why Europe embraced the scientific method and modern philosophy while the rest of the world did not
Essay on Rousseau and irrationalism; essay on the libertarian ideal and the democratic compromise; essay on the U.S. founding fathers allowing slavery to continue—was losing the revolution and hanging a better alternative? Write scenario on what would have happened if there had not been tolerance of slavery
Spinoza’s ethics,
Christianity, Judaism, and respect for human rights; the rise of democratic ideology; Islam becomes totally entropic; conservative belief systems in the rest of the world; European predation
The artistic synthesis continues; further study of the Art of the Fugue and the music of Mozart; the pessimistic writings of Jonathan Swift, a tragic interpretation of the democratic experiment
Group project to perform St. Matthew or
St. John Passion of
Bach; all learn to play the Musical Offering, the Art of the Fugue, in an octet; each octet does its own orchestration for the Art of the Fugue
Compose and perform a conclusion to th e Art of the Fugue’, perform as a group project one Mozart opera of students’ choice
296
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Physical
Biological
Physical Theory Physical Practice
Biological Theory Biological Practice
9.00 11.00
Begin advanced calculus and partial differential equations; detailed study of the work of Lagrange and Euler, the calculus of variations from Newton to Lagrange, elementary probability theory from Pascal to Cauchy and LaPlace; applications in optics, astronomy, theory of heat
Begin construction of simple steam engine, making from scratch, doing all machining of parts by treddle-driven lathes and water and windmill power; check the detailed mathematical models against astronomical observations
Conclusion of the study of human anatomy and embryology
Conclusion of dissections and microscopic observations; the general functioning of the human body has been observed
9.25 11.25
Continue work of previous quarter; detailed theory of steam engine, the work of Lavoisier, Priestley, and Dalton
Continue above project, Begin study of animal switching to electrical physiology and describe machinery; do early biochemistry through experiments in electricity mid 19th century; by Gauss, Coulomb, repeat experiments of Ampfere, and Volta; the Helmholtz in biophysics atomic model of chemistry and experiments
Experiments in basic physiology showing how human body consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide; human body as a heat engine
9.50 11.50
Continue work in chemistry; the work of
LaPlace and Carnot, the laws of thermodynamics, the experiments of Faraday; advanced studies in partial differential equations; wave mechanics in optics; begin study of the works of Gauss
Continue chemistry experiments; finish work on steam engine; test efficiency using Carnot’s concepts; begin repeating the experiments of Faraday and empirically derive the basic laws of electricity and magnetism, including Ohm’s law
Animal physiology and biochemistry continued; the work and life of Pasteur
Experiments in animal physiology and biochemistry continued
9.75 11.75
Maxwell’s work on the wave theory of light and the derivation of Maxwell’s equations and their applications; continue study of Gauss’ mathematics and physics
Electromagnetic motors and generators, construction of batteries, transmission of electromagnetic waves, early work of Tesla, the telegraph and the wireless constructed
A course in botany and plant physiology; begin experiments in plant genetics after Gregor Mendel
Study and dissection of major plant species; field studies, microscopic dissection, plant breeding per Gregor Mendel
A Lifetime Curriculum
297
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Psychosocial
Integration
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
9.00 11.00 Detailed analysis of the American and French Revolutions; detailed analysis of the writings of Jefferson and his correspondence; comparisons between Jefferson, Washington, and Napoleon; how Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution in the pursuit of personal power; howtheU.S. government betrayed the Libertarian ethic
Write essays comparing the ethical course of the American and French Revolution; relate the ethics of Spinoza to these revolutions; relate to evolutionary ethics and show where they went wrong
Artistic synthesis in the early work of Goethe and the music of Beethoven; ethical synthesis in the philosophy of Lessing, Goethe, and Moses Mendelssohn and their interpretations of Spinoza
Reorchestrate and perform Beethoven’s
Grosse Fugue for octet; read Goethe's prophetic poetry; write a sequel to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice
9.25 11.25 The philosophy of Kant, biography, The Critique of Pure Reason and The Critique of Practical Reason ; compare to Spinoza; Kant’s cosmology compared to LaPlace; explain Catholic hostility
9.50 11.50 The philosophy of
Hegel—how he could be so wrong and so influential; Hegel and the misinterpretation of Spinoza; Hegel's theory of history and ethics; Hegel as the father of Marxism and Naziism; de Tocqueville as a visionary and prophetic historian
Write essays on the scientific and ethical implications of Kant’s philosophy; analyze in terms of the evolutionary ethic
Essay explaining Hegel’s influence through present times; a comparison of Spinoza and Hegel—how could Hegel so misunderstand Spinoza and deceive himself and others?
Why was de Tocqueville so accurate in his predictions?
Artistic synthesis continued in the work of
Goethe and Beethoven;
Goethe's Sorcerer's
Apprentice and pessimism, the romantic hope and self-delusion
The romantic poets,
Byron, Shelley, and
Wordsworth; the art of
Watteau, Houdon,
David, and Degas; the music of Berlioz and
Liszt; Wagner as the musical equivalent of
Hegel
Produce as a group project Goethe's Faust and performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for several octets
Write epic poetry on a hopeful future from a romantic perspective; do a musical satire on a Wagner opera; paint a heroic romantic painting
9.75 11.75
A history of the world from 1775 to 1910; development of major ideas and philosophies, with particular attention to USA, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Russia; basic economics from Adam Smith to Marx and Engels
An essay explaining the
Newtonian model and its influence on the intellectual history of the world; why Islam, India, and China were so far behind, why Japan was able to catch up
An ethical analysis of
European and American imperialism; libertarian and socialistic ethics; the ethical turmoil of the age of liberty and social obligation; read Warand Peace by Tolstoy; the paintings of Turner and the Impressionists
Read and analyze
Pushkin, Melville,
Dickens, Hugo, Balzac,
Dostoyevski, Tolstoy,
George Eliot; study the music of Mahler and perform Das Lied von derErde
298
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Avg.
Level
Avg.
Age
Physical
Biological
Physical Theory Physical Practice
Biological Theory Biological Practice
10.00 12.00
Gauss' mathematics and physics continued; general thermodynamics, the work of Boltzman Clausius and Gibbs, Maxwell’s demon, the inventions of Edison and Tesla; the work of Mendeleev and the beginning of organic chemistry; probability theory as understood by Gauss and Galton
Construction of AC generators and regulators, simple radios, light bulbs, and recording devices; begin design and construction of simple internal combustion engine; experiments in organic chemistry and synthesis of organic compounds
The life and work of
Charles Darwin and
Wallace, the evolution of evolutionary ideas, the theory of natural selection, and the three laws of thermodynamics; the work of Pasteur continued
Each student gathers evidence for and against Darwinian evolution, taking into account basic genetic knowledge and probability
10.25 12.25
Non-Euclidean geometry and statistical mechanics; introduction to systematic probability theory and statistics; continue work in thermodynamics and organic chemistry; the workofW.R. Hamilton and Henri Poincare is studied
Continue work of previous quarter; construct interferometers and repeat the Michelson/Morley experiments; repeat experiments of Planck to derive Planck's constant; develop and derive the special theory of relativity; begin construction of automobile; continue internal combustion engine project
Neo-Darwinian theories of evolution and evolutionary genetics up to R.A. Fisher's The Genetical Theory of Evolution ; explain disease and parasites in evolution
Do genetic experiments with fruit flies and molds, giving evidence for and against neo-Darwinism, theories of evolution, bacteriology; systematic study and laboratory work
10.50 12.50
The physics of the 20th century, including the General Theory of Relativity up to the discovery of quantum mechanics, is presented as a year course in modern physics (with an advanced calculus prerequisite) as it might have been given at Harvard, Cambridge, or Gottingen in 1925; physical and organic chemistry, also a year survey course; finish study of Henri PoincarS
Continue work on automobile; repeat experiments leading up to Bohr atom; handmade basic tubes for radio and oscilloscope; construct a more advanced radio and oscilloscope using tubes; make photocells, synthesize organic compounds
Introduction to cell biochemistry and advanced genetics; begin chromatography and electrophoresis for separating common biochemical constituents of mammals
The chemical structure of the constituents of life; isolating nucleic acids and proteins, determining their properties through chemical and spectrographic analysis; create genetic mosaics
10.75 12.75
Continuation of previous quarter; relate physical chemistry and organic chemistry to biochemistry; theory of x-ray machines and electron microscopes
Continuation of previous quarter; finish automobile; study of x-ray machines and electron microscopes; organic chemistry laboratory; motion pictures
Continuation of previous quarter; introduction to x-ray crystallography and electron microscopy for the study of large molecules and viruses
Continuation of previous quarter; use of x-ray crystallography to determine chemical structure; electron microscopy of viruses and large molecules
A Lifetime Curriculum
299
Avg.
Age
Psychosocial
Integration
Psychosocial Theory
Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
10.00 12.00
The theories of Marx and Engels in detail, Das Kapital and the Dialectics of Nature; the ideas of August LeComte and social science in general; the psychology of William James
Critical essay on
Marxism and dialectic materialism; what is wrong and what is right about theory, what is the scientific evidence for and against the theory; why is social science so full of nonsense?
Ethical analysis of The music of Arnold
Marxist philosophy and Schoenberg, the plays ethics; how and why of Frank Wedekind, the Marxism violates the early paintings of
evolutionary ethic; read Picasso and the Cubists; The Brothers Karamazov the opera Lulu by Alban by Dostoyevsky Berg is performed
10.25 12.25
The philosophy of Essay comparing the
Nietzsche and Spencer; neo-Darwinian ethics
evolutionary ethics as with Marxism; the
propounded by Spencer; incipient Lamarckianism ethical Darwinism, an in Marxism compared to introduction to the life its ethics; essay on and ideas of Sigmund European racism and Freud, the rise of racist fascism growing out of fascism in Europe social Darwinism
Ethical analysis of neo- The music of Richard
Darwinian philosophy Strauss, Ein Heldenle
and of social Darwinism; ben, Also Sprach
how and why social Zarathustra, and the
Darwinism and fascism opera Elektra; Man and
violate the evolutionary Superman by G.B. Shaw
ethic; Freud as a is also performed
Newtonian psychologist
looking for mechanistic
explanations which may
not exist; ethical
implications of the
unconscious
10.50 12.50 World history from 1910 to 1925; the basic writings of Lenin and a study of his life; World War I and the Russian Revolution, the world fear of communism, Leon Trotsky as an idealized communist; Freud’s later works
Essay on the origins and consequences of World Warl; essay on the origins and consequences of communism in Russia; essay on how the brilliant, ethical Trotsky went wrong and helped create a Frankenstein
An ethical analysis of how the Soviet Union betrayed its own revolution and turned into a monster; how the centralization of power makes corruption inevitable; read Darkness at Noon by Koestler and Animal Farm by Orwell
The music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich; the films of Sergei Eisenstein, including Ivan the Terrible ; perform the Shostakovich opera Lady Macbeth of Murmansk and Mussorgsky’s Boris Gudenov
10.75 12.75
World history 1925 to 1939; the basic writings of Mussolini, Hitler, fascism, Stalin, and Soviet communism; a study of Hitler and Stalin as complementary personalities who changed history; early works of Pavlov and Jung
Essay comparing the conflicting ideologies and economic factors leading to World War II; what could have been done to prevent World War II; why the United States was so immune to both communism and fascism
An ethical anlysis of how capitalistic greed and the political cowardice and vindictiveness of the European democracies made World War II inevitable; Read Winds of War by Wouk
The music of Stravinsky, the early art of Dali, the films of Chaplin, Bunuel, Lang, and Pabst, plus Academy Award winners; perform Hindemith’s opera Mathis der Mahler and Brecht’s Mahagonny
300
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
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Level Age
Physical
Physical Theory
Physical Practice
Biological Theory
Biological
eory Biological Practice
11.00 13.00
Continuation of previous quarter; begin to focus chemical studies on biochemical processes and molecules; theory of ultracentrifuges and mass spectrographs
Continuation of previous quarter; begin construction of small airplane and learn to fly it; begin design and construct black & white television set; continue experiments in atomic and nuclear physics; study of ultracentrifuges and mass spectrographs
Continuation of previous quarter; use of mass spectrograph and ultracentrifuge
Continuation of previous quarter; use of advanced techniques to determine gross structure of RNA, DNA, and proteins
11.25 13.25 Continuation of previous Finish small airplane; Continue work of
quarter; begin an complete construction . previous quarter;
introduction to quantum of black & white TV set; analysis of biochemical
mechanics and how it begin practice flying molecules and their
explained and enabled airplane; experiment reactions
us to predict and control with microwaves; build the facts that were simple radar transmitters
causing paradoxes; and receivers
study Pauling’s work on the chemical bond
Continue work of previous quarter; experimental physiological chemistry
11.50 13.50
The formal study of Perform experiments to
quantum mechanics show that photons,
continued; work of Bohr, electrons, and other de Broglie, Schroedinger, quantum entities are Heisenberg, and Bohm; both waves and particritical experiments cles; construct transis
analyzed; Von tor, laser, and hologram;
Neumann’s formalization begin design and of quantum mechanics construction of color into operators in Hilbert TV; begin design and space; the predictive construction of analog
power of quantum and digital computers
mechanics; advanced theory of probability and statistics
Biochemical analysis of Biochemical isolation of DNA and RNA; how their DNA and RNA; preparing structure was derived crystals for x-ray and how heredity and diffraction, determine biological information is their structure with encoded in these exactitude; determine
molecules; relate to exact structure of
Pauling’s work on the insulin molecule chemical bond
11.75 13.75 Continuation of previous Continuation of previous Molecular biology of the
works; Einstein’s experiments and gene; how to read the
objections to quantum constructions; experi- genetic code; quantum
mechanics, including ments in superfluidity processes in DNA
the EPRB paradox, and and superconductivity how these objections as macro quantum were resolved; quantum events mechanics and chemistry
Experiments in gene splicing and working with recombinant DNA in bacteria; genetically engineered bacteria to produce human interferon
A Lifetime Curriculum
301
Avg.
Avg.
Psychosocial
Integration
Level
Age
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
11.00 13.00 World history 1939 to Write essay on the role An ethical analysis ot Nazi films of Leni
1949; the later theories of the United States in the factors leading to Riefenstahl; a study of
of C.G. Jung and!. World War II and how it WWII and how demo- Citizen Kane ; students
Pavlov; the philosophy erred in its ethical cratic ideology is used write script, score,
of existentialism obligations and thereby to combat communism; produce, and direct film
lost the peace; write the communist views of of their own as group
essay on what the world democratic capitalism, project using TV
and the United States the democratic view of camera; study films of
would be like if the totalitarian communism; the Holocaust and World
United States and Read War and Remem- War II
England had united to brance by Wouk prevent other nations from acquiring nuclear weapons
11.25 13.25 The basic writings of Write essay and Ethical analysis of The films of Jean
Jean Paul Sartre, contrast the ethical existentialism as the Renoir, Cocteau, and
Camus and other consequences of national philosophy of Clement; the music of
modern existentialists; existential pessimism France and how that led “Les Six”; the paintings
the philosophy of with evolutionary to French defeat and of Matisse and late
Teilhard de Chardin; an optimism, analyzing the collaboration in WWII; Picasso; make a film in
introduction to behavior- social implications of a the creativity of the the French style
ism starting with work society that produces French
of Watson both; do simple condi¬
tioning experiments with rats
11.50 13.50 The writings of B.F. Conditioning experi- Ethical analysis of the Study of psychological
Skinner on behaviorism; ments with rats, cats, implications of behavior- films from Spellbound,
study of the school of and dogs; biofeedback ism; show how this is a 7th Veil, and The
behavior therapy; experiments with classical model of a Cobweb to A Clockwork
animal and human humans; use of condi- quantum process; show Orange and The Prisoner, comparisons; compare tioning to break bad how ethics can over- as a group project make
to the psychotherapy habits, compulsions, come conditioning and a B&W film satire of
schools spun off from and phobias how ethics can also Walden II
Freud be destroyed by
conditioning
11.75 13.75 A survey of 20th Write essay on the Ethical implications of Study the paintings of
century philosophy after relationship between quantum mechanics for Dali and other surreal-Bertrand Russell; start science and the school human behavior; ists; study Dali's films
with G.E. Moore’s of rational analysis; relationship between with BuHuel and
writings on ethics; study write essay on how the determinism and free Bunuel's later films;
Tractactus Logicus academic study of will; chance and make a film as group
Phiiosophicus and ethics is becoming necessity in evolution project on expressing
Wittgenstein’s Phiio- trivial and unscientific; and human choice; read surrealism and ethics
sophical Investigations, how can ethics be made Chance and Necessity
Schlick’s and Hare’s scientific, why has no by Monod
work on ethics, Russell’s one taken the lead of analysis of matter and Spinoza and continued analysis of mind, working toward a
Schroedinger’s What Is rational scientific
Life?, The Vienna Circle, ethics? and Logical Positivism
302
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
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Level
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Age
Physical
Biological
Physical Theory Physical Practice
Biological Theory Biological Practice
12.00 14.00
A one-year synthetic study in cosmology uniting field theory, particle physics, and the Big Bang theory; show the evolution of matter, space, and time from the instant of the Big Bang to the present; discuss alternative explanation such as the steady-state theory
Astronomical observations of astrophysics, quasars, and possible black holes; the different types of galaxies are observed; the red shift and radio astronomy are studied and observed; results of experiments in high-energy particle physics are analyzed
A year study of chemical evolution after Blum, Calvin, and Manfred Eigen; show possible deterministic origins for DNA and protein and how autopoiesis might start as a quantum process; relate information and entropy, information theory and thermodynamics
Laboratory simulations of chemical evolution leading to protein and DNA through many different pathways; show how RNA encodes information to DNA
12.25 14.25
Continuation of previous Continuation of previous Continuation of previous Continuation of previous quarter quarter quarter quarter
12.50 14.50
Continuation of previous two quarters
Continuation of previous two quarters
Continuation of previous two quarters
Continuation of previous two quarters
12.75 14.75
Continuation of previous three quarters; the latest cosmological models of Guth, Hawking, and Hoyle; their successors
Continuation of previous three quarters; observation of possible primordial strings as indicated by large gravitational lenses
Continuation of previous three quarters; trace a possible pathway to RNA, protein, DNA, cells
Continuation of previous three quarters; try creating simple proteins that when combined with RNA produce DNA in autopoiesis with the protein
A Lifetime Curriculum
303
Avg.
Avg.
Psychosocial
Integration
Level
Age
Psychosocial Theory
Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory
Integrative Practice
12.00 14.00 A survey of the leading An analysis and essay theories of psychother- on psychofraud as a apy and humanistic and human phenomenon; transpersonal psychol- why will persons resist ogy during the 20th scientific explanation to century; show that they behavior? why are are transitory fads clearly untrue fads with which almost never last no scientific basis so and that they do not popular? an essay on have a scientific base the human potential
even though they movement
produce millions of true believers
The psychology of selfdeception and its relationship to ethics; why is it possible to virtually eliminate selfdeception from physical and biological science but not from social science?
The art of self-deception and quantum vision, the drawings of M.C.
Escher, self-reference based drawings and paintings; study of the films of Stanley Kubrick, particularly 2001 and A Clockwork Orange
12.25 14.25 A survey of late 20th Essay on the inability of The economic implica
century economics the leading economists tions of evolutionary
beginning with Keynes' to deal with creativity as ethics; the ethical
General Theory, the central factor in implications of genetic
covering the ideas of economic growth; the engineering and eternal
Paul Samuelson and ethical obligations of the life; is it ever wrong to
Milton Friedman; rich toward the poor share knowledge? is it
supply-side economics ever right to impede the
and non-zero sum flow of knowledge?
games; the economics of creativity
The music of Penderecki as a manifestation of 20th century entropy and ethical obligation; performance of Penderecki’s Dieslrae and The Devils of Loudon and Requiem
12.50 14.50
A world history from Write essay showing 1950 to the present how in their structure showing that no and in their actions both
combination of socialism socialism and capitalism or capitalism is likely to repeatedly violate the work; show that Islam evolutionary ethic; and all other societies essay on an alternative alienated from western political socio-economic civilization are evolution- system to both capitaiary deadends; the need ism and/or socialism for an alternative
Art as a medium of Study the films of protest; read Koestler, Costas Gavras as Pasternak, and Solzhenit- indictments of both syn; read the latter’s socialism and capitalism; criticisms of the West; Z, The Confession, State read the anticapitalistic of Siege, Apocalypse writings from Clifford Now, and The Godfather Odets to Arthur Miller's series; begin a TV film Death of a Salesman as a group project and The Crucible expressing hope in the midst of an entropic world order
12.75 14.75 An introduction to a general theory of evolution unifying ethics, evolutionary theory and science; show the place for mysticism in the scheme of things and how mysticism inadequately balanced by science always leads to self-delusion; develop a thermodynamic, information-theoretic model of evolution and creativity
Write essay showing how to implement the general theory of evolution and the evolutionary ethic as an alternative socioeconomic and political system on any scale in any country; take into account practical constraints; do a mathematical prediction of possible futures for evolution and creativity
Study the recent writings of ethical
Christians within and without the Catholic church; see how Christianity and Judaism are evolving a more humanistic ethic more in harmony with the evolutionary ethic; relate to other major religions
Finish the film; write an essay on how persons who practice the evolutionary ethic can best communicate with adherents of each of the major religions, using art and common ethical values
304
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
Physical Biological
Avg. Avg. _'--
Level Age Physical Theory Physical Practice Biological Theory Biological Practice
13.00 15.00 Seminar on cosmology Observations and Seminar on genetic Experiments in engineer
covering latest findings, computer simulations of engineering and ing new life forms and
theories, and alternative cosmological models; recombinant DNA; latest correcting genetic
ideas, usually will cover derivation of original findings, ideas and defects in mammals
the most important models theories
findings and breakthroughs of the last year; unify field theory, quantum mechanics, particle physics, and astronomy
13.25 15.25 Seminar on chemical evolution leading to living cells; latest findings, theories, and ideas; how can autopoiesis be induced at the precellular level?
Experimental attempts to recreate the chemical evolution that led to the first cells in the laboratory; any form of chemical autopoiesis will be evaluated
Seminar on brain physiology and function; how the brain contributes to our intelligence and our mind; the brain as a classical device and the brain as a quantum device are emphasized
Experiments in understanding and enhancing brain function; life-style and the brain; EEG and brain physiology during autopoiesis
13.50 15.50
Seminar on the latest findings and discoveries in solid-state electronic devices, memory chips, microprocessors, picocircuits, etc.; discuss performance, manufacturing techniques, and areas for new research; solid-state physics and chemistry appropriate to these devices
Laboratory and experiments on how to create micro- and pico-circuits; developing the crystals and modifying them; design and construction of advanced computers
Seminar on human health; how to prevent and cure diseases; focus on viral infections, degenerative diseases, and the aging process
Laboratory and clinic on preventive medicine and health maintenance for maximization of creativity
13.75 15.75
Seminar on latest Laboratory and experi
discoveries in macro ments with important
quantum physics, new technologies and
lasers, holography, processes covered in or
super-conductivity; related to the accompa
developments of other nying seminar; quantum
important technologies technologies and
like quantum computers, advanced energy
artificial intelligence, systems are experimen
and any technological tally treated
breakthrough in any field; also, extensions of EPR and nonlocal interactions
Seminar on the latest Laboratory and field
findings in biological studies in paleontology,
evolutionary theory, evolutionary genetics,
particularly scientifically and computer modelings plausible deviations of the evolutionary
from orthodox Darwinian process, particularly paleontology, genetic relating to rates of
distance, and other evolution, punctuated
findings relevant to equilibrium, and
evolutionary biology quantum evolutionary
processes in evolution
A Lifetime Curriculum
305
Avg.
Level |
Avg.
Age
Psychosocial
Integration
Psychosocial Theory Psychosocial Practice
Integrative Theory Integrative Practice
13.00 15.00
Seminarsinevolutionary ethics and the general theory of evolution as an integrating theory in the social sciences; correct theory where it seems wrong and extend where it seems right; test the theory entirely by its ability to predict
Use the general theory of evolution to integrate the social sciences and other sciences when possible into a unified whole using mathematical models and emphasizing information theory and thermodynamics
Seminar on the latest developments in art which express a synthesis of ethics, humanities, and technology
Experimental creation of films, study of original films and their techniques; other techniques that integrate ethics, humanities, art, and technology
13.25 15.25
Seminar on human creativity and how to maximize it; show relationship between ethics and intelligence and how to maximize their interactions; study the interaction of ethics, science, technology, mysticism, and human organization; show both negative and positive findings
Experiments in how to maximize creativity for different persons in different environments; test the limits of what can be done for persons driven by fear who have not been able to make a commitment to the evolutionary ethic; test to see what can be done environmentally to maximize intelligence for those who are committed
Seminars on musical theory and composition; development of notation and expressive media for dance and opera; discuss latest work with high ethical content
Original composition of music, dance, and opera; performances of new works and interactions with latest technologies
13.50 15.50
Seminar on the economics of creativity and how best to organize the creative economic output of individuals; compare to other work in economics and the latest findings in these fields; test and improve the theory of creative transformation, octet formation, and autopoiesis
Laboratories in alternative forms of human organization for maximizing economically relevant creativity; kinds and numbers of persons and how best to communicate and assure creative feedback; are there creative alternatives to selfscreening and selection into octets?
Seminars on the latest developments in the plastic arts, drawing, painting, sculpture, carving, ceramics; new forms, styles, and techniques are discussed; emphasis is on art with an ethical content
Workshops in the plastic arts; individual and group projects in any combination of plastic arts
13.75 15.75 Seminar on the prediction of historical and social events using the general theory of evolution and other techniques that made correct predictions in the past
Laboratory on howto organize octets into larger systems without losing creative output; how to delegate power within systems of octets without producing corruption and a loss of liberty; experimental techniques for predicting social changes and the future
Seminar on world Critical readings and
literature and philosophy, group discussions of what is being expressed important literary, and how, how it relates philosophical, and to the general theory of religious writings; write evolution, what can be alternatives to rejected incorporated into the ideas
general theory, and what is detrimental to its development
306
AN EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVE
so that parents will not use reward and punishment to condition students. Each octet can effectively teach 64 students. It is predicted that the effectiveness of the teaching and the learning will be maximized if the students are organized as tracked, mutual-interest, comparable-ability student octets engaged in autopoiesis. Each octet of teachers in turn interacts autopoietically to coordinate and integrate its teaching. Eight octets of teachers, with 512 students, is probably the optimal upper limit for school size to achieve the maximum amount of diversity and choice for the students. There would also be two coordinating octets of teachers made up of one male and one female from each of the teaching octets. Overall school policy would be determined by unanimous consent of the two administrative octets in consultation with the teaching octets from which they come.
Schools themselves could go several ways: (1) emphasize a fixed rate of progress (track) and teach up to eight levels; (2) have a single level of studies with up to eight standards of progress (tracks); or (3) have a combination of the two. Local circumstances would dictate what would be best for the students. It is important that the students be able to move along at the rate that is best for them. Students could either choose a school that matched their rate of progress and had several adjoining levels or find a school at their level which offered the multiple rates of progress option for whatever level they wished to assume. These combinations and permutations of possibilities should be worked out by market forces and the teachers themselves.
Teachers can probably best teach students who match their own natural rates of progress. However, some teachers are very patient and compassionate with slow students, who learn much more slowly than the teachers did when they were at the same level. These more versatile teachers would be ideally suited for schools with multiple tracking at a single level. In the curriculum outlined on pages 284-305, we assume a single fast track for the brightest, quickest students, since it is these types of students who will probably first use this system. A level is a year of study for the quickest student group. These fast students would start at age 3 and go at the fastest possible rate. On the other extreme, very slow students could start at age 8, for example, and go at one quarter this rate. Almost the entire population would fit between these two extremes.
This approach to education would greatly accelerate the pace of learning because everything is relevant, interesting, and readily available in a loving context without fear. Everything the student learns is always related to everything the student knows. My best estimate, based on experiments I have personally conducted, is that many students will learn at a 400% higher rate than in our current, classical educational system that emphasizes intelligence over creativity. The preceding lifetime curriculum demonstrates a quantum educational process that catalyzes itself. Remember, the slowest students could move at one fourth this rate.
The thousands of possible variations on the preceding outline of the integrated education, designed to maximize creativity, can be made available to almost every human being by reducing the rate of learning in any or all of the four key areas for those who cannot or prefer not to keep up the pace as given. Up to eight rates of progress, or tracks, are feasible within this system. The last or 13th level is an unending level which is repeated every year with new material. Once a person at any age has finished the first twelve levels, he or she may then enter the 13th level and stay there for several cycles to develop his or her creative maturity. The 13th level may also have multiple tracks. Any student may take any class at any school, and may generalize or specialize. No pressure is put on the student to conform academically. The student is simply presented with opportunities to accept or reject. The choice is always the student’s. Therefore, some students may, if they wish, spend all their time studying music or mathematics and boycotting the other classes and courses. However, I predict that if they are given a free choice from an early age, almost all students will choose to generalize and optimize the curriculum as outlined.
A person finishing and understanding at least one cycle of the 13th level will be extremely well prepared to go into almost any specialized professional graduate school program in physics, astronomy, chemistry, molecular biology, zoology, medicine, botany, any engineering field, architecture, philosophy, psychology, history, music, art, film, etc. The objective is not necessarily to replace specialized professional graduate schools, although this may be a side effect, but to give persons a foundation and a perspective that will maximize their creativity, whatever they choose to do in life. This type of education would be expensive but less than the typical $10,000 per student per year in a good private school without room and board. By integrating this educational system with the economic system of the following chapter, we could soon make available this type of education to every human being and his/her children who wish it, regardless of their economic means. Creative education is the best possible investment.
As will be seen, the educational and economic systems will support and enhance each other. The problem at this time is how to start to organize the schools so that they become a self-catalyzing process.
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