#3 Enlightenment

The 21^st Century Enlightenment is a video created by the RSA Animate organization. This video looks inside the ideals, norms, values, and lifestyles of the 18^th Century Enlightenment and how they are used, as well as how they should not be used, in the world today. In the video, questions are raised such as, “What do those values mean? Do they still apply? Do they meet the challenges we now face in the 21^st century?” According to Matthew Taylor, because we live differently in the 21^st century, we need to think differently as well. We need to see ourselves and our world in a new perspective. I agree with this idea entirely. There are very few similarities between the world in the 18^th century and the world as we know it today, so why would we treat it as if it were the same? With all of the modern-day obstacles that are placed in our way, our morals, politics, and education all need to adjust and become modern as well.

The Changing Education Paradigm is another video created by the RSA Animate. This video, also accompanied by brilliant cartoon sketching, is based on today’s education system. It presents great ideas about the importance and the pressure that is placed on having an education, the many failures in the system, and ways to change and improve those failures so the education system may work more efficiently. This video, in my opinion, was extremely eye-opening. The fact that we are grouped merely by age, that we are trained to sit in straight rows in uncomfortable desks, and that we are all conditioned to herd from one area to the next like farm animals at the sound of a bell, are all norms that I was well aware of but never really paid attention to. I simply viewed it as normal – as most people do. But is this really the most effective system? According to the video, not even close. And after watching I was completely captivated and strongly shared this belief as well. These are major flaws in today’s education that need to be addressed and changed. The outcome could give people a real chance to reach their full potential, which given the system today they easily may not be able to do.

In addition to these two videos, reading the Age of Enlightenment, an article part of Wikipedia, helped to summarize this idea of “enlightenment” as a whole. It is explained as a “cultural movement … to reform society using reason (rather than tradition, faith and revelation) and advance knowledge through science.” The ideals of the 18^th Century Enlightenment influenced major documents including the American Declaration of Independence and the United States Bill of Rights in which we still base our country around today. However, the point of the original enlightenment was to reinvent according to the times in order to improve everyday life and maintain progress. Three centuries later, a lot has changed again – and that is a major understatement – therefore it is time to improve our systems once more so that we may continue this progression.