permissionless education 🦇
A good while ago I stumbled across an are.na channel called "the Improper Institute of Permissionless Education". The title has been wandering around my mind since then. It is a huge collection of books on a vast array of topics, all there, all free to read. All it takes is the time and...well perseverance to do so.
Permissionless Education – I am enchanted.
At the moment, the things that give me the most joy, the things that let me grow, are the things I am doing without anyone asking. There is no outward necessity or imperative allowing me to justify the hours I carve out for life drawing, for experimenting with improvisation scores, for having an idea and chasing it until it becomes reality. No obvious use in the amateur anatomy studies I conduct, the off key attempts at playing the flute.
It takes a lot not to ask for permission. No boss, no self help book, no 5am morning routine, no desire to optimize anything. Just the instinct to play and discover, that allows for learning something new, maybe even unexpected.
The idea of permissionless education makes space for the fact that we are full grown adults, we do not need to ask for permission on how to spend our time. There is a sense of liberation in this; the curiosity was never dead, just unsure if she was allowed to speak up. So here I am on a self administered study program of whatever sparks my interest. And in times of funding cuts on higher education, and raging anti-intellectualism it might just be what keeps me sane.
🦇