Mission 2020: Building a nation of lifelong learners
In June 2000, the Planning Commission set up a committee to draw up a vision 2020, which report (http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/pl_vsn2020.pdf ) was published in December 2002.
We have less time than what the committee had to face the real 2020. Just about 20 months. And we want to focus on one thing ‘ The exponential rise of Machine Intelligence’. Our recommended response is lifelong learners. My personal mission is to evangelise lifelong learning, create a community of fellow lifelong learners, and hope that this would sow the seeds for a nation of lifelong learners.
If the more than 1 billion Indians decide to pursue lifelong learning and rational thinking, learning for even 15-30 minutes/day from their mobiles, we would leapfrog to a much better life. Eric Hanushek in his book ‘ The Knowledge Capital of Nations’ has …. and this is Independent of who is in power.
We begin the day by doing yoga. Why not follow it up with learning ( Gyan yoga). We use all devices to measure whether we achieved our fitness goal of 10,000 steps each day. Why not reflect over how many words did we read read or hear that added to our knowledge and understanding of the world.
This is an effort in that direction.
All you need to do yoga is your commitment, a yoga mat…. and practice. Most people who have kept with yoga for a while have experienced significant transformation.
For lifelong learning you need a similar commitment, a smartphone ( perhaps AI enabled) and continued pursuit. Yoga releases endorphins and learning releases dopamine and together they can make you really happy. And if you do the course on ‘happiness’ you will learn that if you act in ways that generate serotonin and oxytocin, you would become truly happy.
Isn’t that what we always wanted.
The year 2020 is just about 20 months away. This period is a period of very rapid ( exponential change) and as Professor Klaus Schwab pointed out in January 2016 is the onset of the 4th Industrial Revolution and era of the fusion of the Physical world ( of atoms and energy), the information world ( of bits and qbits) and the biological world ( of genes and neurons).
As preparation for this, everyone will have to create their plan for change and alignment to the future, and the main driver for it is lifelong learning. Whether you are a young person just about 18 years of age, who is ‘coming of Age in the 4th Industrial Age’ or a young professional facing the ‘ Gig economy’ and want to get comfortable with ‘ Business 4.0’ or a young senior citizen planning a useful ‘next decade’ of your life, you have to create and follow your own path to your destiny.
This mission of lifelong learning delivered through Whatsapp on mobile phones helps you find your way.
What about the tens of thousands of coaching institutes imparting so called competitive entrance test hurdle jumping skills? How does one get the main stream and these coaching temples of”learning”” on board for AI