Energy Constrained Learning: Part 1

Note: This post is part 1 of 6 in a serialization of Energy Constrained Learning.
 

Introduction

The postcarbon world will look substantially different from the current one. Fuels will be scarce, and we will obtain energy from different sources. As a result, the ways in which we live, eat, travel, vacation, work, recreate, trade, manufacture, and consume will all likely be very different from today. There are no crystal balls or other reliable tools for predicting the future, but it is clear that we must be deliberate about responses so that we minimize future disruptions, dislocations, and adverse impacts while providing benefits for health and well-being.

Brian S. Schwartz, Cindy L. Parker, Jeremy Hess, and Howard Frumkin, Public Health and Medicine in an Age of Energy Scarcity: The Case of Petroleum, Am J Public Health 2011 101: 1560-1567.

Hear the alarm in the authors’ voices? This in a peer-reviewed, paywall-protected, academic journal.

The September 2011 issue of the American Journal of Public Health has a special section on peak petroleum and public health, with fully eight articles devoted to the topic. The authors’ concerns are understated in the manner of such journals, but nonetheless clearly evident.

By extension the same alarm can be assumed for education. In this post, I consider how tomorrow’s energy transformation might affect learning. Warning: This is a lengthy post, but its length befits the importance of the topic.