MOBILITY IN THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." —Thomas Moore

MOBILITY IN THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

In "A Survey of the Near Future" appearing in the November 3, 2001 issue of The Economist, the following observation about the impact of knowledge work was made:

"The knowledge society is the first human society where upward mobility is potentially unlimited. Knowledge differs from all other means of production in that it cannot be inherited or bequeathed. It has to be acquired anew by every individual, and everyone starts out with the same total ignorance.

"Knowledge has to be put in a form in which it can be taught, which means it has to become public. It is always universally accessible, or quickly becomes so. All this makes the knowledge society a highly mobile one. Anyone can acquire any knowledge at school, through a codified learning process, rather than by serving as an apprentice to a master....

"The knowledge society...considers every impediment to such mobility a form of discrimination. This implies that everybody is now expected to be a 'success' - an idea that would have seemed ludicrous in earlier generations. Naturally only a tiny number of people can be outstanding successes; but a very large number are expected to be adequately successful."