Chapter 5: The Education of a Citizen
Read the full chapter in the Unscarcity book.
Chapter 5 dismantles the factory model of education—built in Prussia to produce obedient soldiers—and proposes a new curriculum for citizens who must govern alongside thinking machines. The goal shifts from producing “human capital” to cultivating judgment, agency, and civic competence.
Questions Addressed
- What is school for when there are no jobs?
- Why does the factory model fail in an age of AI?
- What should replace memorization when AI can answer any factual question?
- How do AI tutors transform personalized learning?
- How do diverse Commons (Heritage, Synthesis, Experimentalist) educate differently?
Related Topics
- Education: Factory vs. Citizen — The case against the Prussian model
- Civic Service — Service as the path to citizenship
- Civic Standing — How contribution builds standing
- Time Banking Economics — Measuring contribution without money
- Impact — The currency of validated contribution
- Impact Decay Curves — Keeping ambition fresh
- Gen Z and the Human Edge — Why uniquely human skills matter more in the AI era
- Agentic AI & Orchestration — The skill education must now teach
- Guiding Axioms — Curriculum anchors
- Four Living Pillars — Educational principles
Key Concepts
- Three Pillars Curriculum — Systems thinking, humanities, and agency
- AI Tutor — Personal Aristotle adapting to each learner
- Civic Service — Capstone education through infrastructure maintenance
- Guild Apprenticeship — Learning by doing under masters
Characters Featured
- Yuki (Heritage Commons) — Traditional joinery apprentice
- Kiran (Synthesis Commons) — Neural-merge learner
- Alessia (New Geneva) — Self-directed curriculum experimenter
