21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Compared to the past, today we have no idea what the world will look like in the coming decades and centuries. Merging biotechnology and artificial engineering might result in accelerating changes to human society and the human body. Thus, the information children learn today will be irrelevant by 2050. Contemporary education focuses on “cramming knowledge into kids’ brains” (264). Until recently, this education model made sense because information was scarce. However, information, often misleading, now constantly bombards humans. Children, instead, need to learn how to make sense of this information, tell fact from fiction, and know about to combine the information to gain a better understanding of the world.

Besides information, contemporary education also focuses too much on providing students with technical skills. Yet these skills might be irrelevant in the coming decades. Pedagogical experts, instead, suggest that students learn four general-purpose life skills: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. These skills will enable people to reinvent themselves again and again, and thereby possibly keep up with the everchanging future society. However, humans, especially adults, do not cope well with change and the unknown. Harari argues that humans will need to learn to embrace the unknown while maintaining emotional balance and mental flexibility.