Education and Learning in a World of Accelerated Knowledge Growth

Today, digitalization and the results of research in the fields of artificial intelligence and biology are rapidly interfusing our knowledge societies, meaning that each individual will have to cope with this new and challenging situation. Nearly a century ago, Alfred North Whitehead predicted this accelerating process: “Modern science has imposed on humanity the necessity for wandering. Its progressive thought and its progressive technology make the transition through time, from generation to generation, a true migration into uncharted seas of adventure.” (Whitehead, 1925, p. 207) Traditional education only creates inert knowledge, although “our training must prepare individuals to face a novelty of conditions.” (Whitehead, 1933/1967, p. 93) In order to meet this enormous challenge, Whitehead developed the basic features of such a new learning cycle approach. This enormous educational challenge forms the background of this book, which investigates the possible role of Whitehead’s process-organismic philosophy in this entirely new setting. The volume is accordingly divided into four sections: (1) Foundational and Boundary Issues; (2) Learning and Teaching Cycles; (3) Learning and Artificial Intelligence; and (4) Aesthetics and Music.