Perspectives: And how do you think the ability to identify the genes for certain trait will affect education? Or will it?
Truman: There are two components. The fact that we understand genomes and the sequencing alone creates a whole new field and a whole new area of research and study that people will have to learn. The second thing is how to use that information to either enhance the way we educated people or to enhance the ability of some people who are not in a position to be educated. I don’t know where we can add autism as something we could look at. Is there some way through genome technology and gene technology to can help them overcome that disease? I don’t know?
Bonewald: It is a genetic disease.
Truman: If you can do those kinds of things, it creates a whole different pool of resources for us from a learning and education standpoint. And that’s just one example. We can go through plenty of neurological diseases and other diseases where that could possibly help.
Witte: Who decides and on what basis?
Truman: That’s a slippery slope.
Bonewald: That’s a whole new conversation beyond educating our students, I think.
Witte: I would offer that those are the questions that we should be asking.
Perspectives: Do you want to offer an answer, Dean Witte?
Witte: Nope. But what does it mean to be human?
Bonewald: There are a lot of theories about what it means to be human, and one thing that seems to be unique about humans is our alphabet and reading and words. I can’t say it’s language because other species have ways to vocalize and interact this way, but I don’t I think this is one thing that’s unique to humans.
Witte: The capacity for story. We wrestle with what education will be like in 2030. The tools will be different, but many of the issues will be exactly the same. There will still be a need for stories. What’s happening right now is the amount of information that washes over us is already beyond our ability to absorb it. What we can measure is immense. Our capacity for measurement is immense. The question is, what do we do with all this information? And education might be just as slow in 2030 as it is right now. It’s not an issue of speed, that’s a different thing.
Bonewald: I think what we have to keep in mind is our technology is evolving so rapidly, but the biological organism is not. And it’s taken us thousands of millennia to evolve to where we are now. So these are the issues we’re going to struggle with. We’re still the same organisms we were 5,000 years ago. Yet, our technology now compared to 5,000 years ago is like night and day. We are a creature that has evolved over extremely long periods of time, while our technology has evolved must faster.
Perspectives: What will the Class of 2030 read, learn or do that will not change from their current counterparts today? Is anything sacred? Anything that is canonical?
Witte: Conflict.
Bonewald: Power. Wars. Survival.
Meyers: There’s been a big change in how people communicate. That change is going to continue, and I think the way people use technology to link together is still going to be different, certainly different in this generation. By 2030, we are going to be a global community. We are not just going to be here. The changes are going to happen on a global scale, and they’re going to effect what’s going on here in Kansas City. We’re going to see China rise as a great power. And we’re going to see that when China no longer the place to manufacture, then Vietnam and Rwanda are going to be the place to manufacture. There’s probably even a chance that by then the United States will be back into manufacturing. Think about the things that are going to happen on a global scale in the next 20 years, and how it’s going to come back and effect people who live in Kansas City and effect how we learn and do business. It’s not unusual for students right now to have friends around the world and keep in touch with them quite often. That’s not going to change. The way we teach between now and then is going to have to reflect that. We’ll see the integration of more people from outside the United States (in University programs), and a lot more integration of curriculum that goes beyond the boundaries of the United States.
Bonewald: With science and research it’s always been diverse and global and international. That’s probably one of the first communities that was diverse and global, and it’ll continue to be so. What I think is interesting is that these countries that want to move forward have realized the power of discovery and research. They realize that that’s the engine that drives business, and it’s good for their population.
Witte: Maria said, “Community.” That’ll be sacred. What that means in 2030 …
Bonewald: What’s your community?
Witte: How many communities? The relationship that I have with my virtual community and the relationship that I have with my physical community is going to be fascinating to see evolve.
Bonewald: The physical community is still going to have to deal with reproduction – sex and generating the next population. We still have to have that kind of physical interaction and contact. So is that going to be the only kind of physical interaction that we’re going to have in the future? Will interaction for personal benefit, intellectual stimulation, etc. – will all that be online?
Witte: I hope not.
Perspectives: What, if anything, will set the United States apart on the global stage in 20 years? How should or will that affect higher ed?
Truman: There’s no doubt that education will set us apart from many countries. Not all countries, but many countries. And that gap is closing very, very quickly. Maria hit the nail on the head: These countries that have lacked for education have realized the importance of education, of research and discovery and are investing heavily into that correction. So that gap is going to close. Manufacturing has left this country. We’ve lost some of our technology jobs in engineering to other countries. What we have found is that we still have the edge in creative thinking and processing information efficiently.
Meyers: It’s in the motivation. We’re all about cheaper, faster better. When you look at some other countries, that’s not the case. But as soon as they see that motivation, it will change. They will come up to the level that we’re at – some people are already there. Then the question will become what can you do with the fact that you have all these countries and people who can play at the same level? So how do you look at research then, how do you look at education? How do you partner?
Truman: Partnerships, collaboration and the real trick of this is leadership. What country out there is going to produce the leaders of those groups and those teams?
Bonewald: So why did the United States become such a global leader? I think it was a number of things that came to confluence in the same place. It was a new country, it had incredible resources, there was a philosophy on how the government should be run, this democratic free will and there was freedom of religion. There were a number of things that came together to make the United States a power in the world. There’s a lot of discrimination in our history, but it was also a melting pot of incredible cultures and diversity, and we brought this diversity together. Every country has its national pride. You have to have something to say, “Well, I’m better than the next guy,” because that’s your measuring stick of where you are. But eventually, I don’t think we’re going to have all our separate countries. I think a lot of them are going to merge, and it’s going to be hard to tell one from the other. They’ll be like the European Union (EU) or something similar. Of course, the EU is still fighting it because they have so many different languages, but once you have a similar language and a similar currency, how are you going to see major differences between those groups? I think that’s beyond 2030, but that’s where we’re moving.
Truman: That’s also one of the least attractive things about globalization. You impact cultures and you lose cultures. Much of the world is become a subset of the United States or Europe, and that’s a shame.
Bonewald: You know, 20 or 30 years ago, I could travel to another country, pick up something unique to give to my mom. Now it’s at Pier 1. There’s almost nothing that’s unique.
Witte: The issue of tolerance: That’s where we’ve stepped forward. We took the people Europe wouldn’t take – much to our benefit. We took another advance at the end of the civil rights movement. I certainly hope that the tolerant nations, the tolerant cultures are the ones that advance.
Bonewald: China doesn’t have a reputation for being very tolerant, and it surely is advancing.
Witte: More so now than when they weren’t China.
Bonewald: True. So do you think they’re advancing because they’re more tolerant?
Witte: No.
Truman: I think they’re more tolerant. They’re advancing for lots of reasons; some of the same reasons that you gave for the United States. They have resources; they recognize that they have to do something differently. If you look at the political structure in China, about 65 percent of the politicians are science, technology, engineering and math based. The reason (China’s) infrastructure is changing, its manufacturing is changing, its space program is changing is because it is being led by politicians who recognize the importance of scientific discovery, developing products and the economics that come with it. There’s a price they’re paying for that, and tolerance-wise, China is still far behind us.
Witte: It’s a more open time than at any time in the 20th century. If you shift the word tolerance for openness, I think we’d agree that China’s emergence as a global power comes at the same time when it opened up.
Bonewald: But they’re having the growing pains of that, too. Their workers are asking for higher wages, the ones with lung disease are demanding care, so they’re paying the price of this openness, too.
Meyers: Just like we did.