Is Europe Guided Towards War?

I just finished watching a documentary, Zeitgeist, that made me think about the world, and what kind of systems we are put in as human beings. It made me question how free our will really is, and how our perspective of the world is almost entierly formed by the media we are absorbing, and the people that ultimately runs the world.

The goal of Zeitgeist was to make us humans THINK and QUESTION what's really happening around us. Sometimes, or even most of the times, we are finding out things using the path of least energy. Like Googleing a subject, and finding out a direct answer to a big question. I'm not saying that it is wrong to do so, I am even doing it myself, but the principle of always chosing the path of least energy can be costly in the long run - forming believes that you have about the world that is not true and unsupported. Even humans are usually more wrong than right when asked about something. Do your own research. Stop listening to what the TV says. Use critical thinking.

I am using critical thinking more and more, but it is not easy to be aware of how we are affected by what someone tells us. After all, it is part of our social codes to try to understand each other in order to be part of a group, but we must learn to differ from what is true, and what is not.

What scared me most about this documentary was how the future of Europe will look like. Are we heading towards war? The first step towards war is to separate ourselves from others, so we can "see" the enemy.
This year started with a "terrorist attack" in Paris, known all over the world. Sweden and Germany are becoming more and more hostile to immigrants, having the right winged parties steadily increasing their votes and power. This is not a good trend... especially since Sweden is considered the most neutral, peaceful country on earth. If Sweden starts a conflict, then what kind of message does that send to the rest of the world?

Maybe it is time to do some research to see what is going on behind closed doors of Europe. The biggest profits are made from war. Look at the documentary and see what is really going on...

Technology in Education

In 1995, less than 1% had access to Internet. 20 years later, 50% of the world has access to this global phenomena that makes us informed, and connected in a way we have never seen before.

The use of the Internet has already started to impact the way education works, both for students, and for teachers. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), TED talks, KhanAcademy, and other platforms makes it easy for any individual to learn new skills. Many schools are also provided with a platform that connects students with their courses, which makes the teachers more in control of the assignments and delivery of personal feedback.

So, what are the pros and cons of this technology? Well, I just read this morning that 190 scientist have released a document saying that electronic devices such as cellphones, "are damaging the living cells in our body, and killing many of us prematurely", which has lead to an official warning about electronic devices usage. Future will tell if this report has an impact on the market, but if it does, then we could see a decline in the number of social media users for the first time in history.

A huge con for social media - in general and for educational purposes - is that we start to rely on technology that might not work as well in the future, especially if there will be a digital divide from the report I just mentioned above. What if some parents tell their kids not to use their cellphones anymore due to the risks of using it? This will mean that some students can't access the Internet to the same extent as other students, which could essentially affect their grades.

Although we did receive bad news from the scientists this morning, we can't ignore the benefits of using Internet for educational purposes. I am writing this blog post as a part of an online class where the teacher is in Australia. That sentence could never have been written 2 decades ago, and I must say that I enjoy online classes since I can use my own time and place to answer questions in my own pace. I do believe that online educations are here to stay, and will only keep growing. It is no coincidence that LinkedIn just bought Lynda.com to further develop their platform, and increase their market value. Some platforms will cost money, but some are also out there for free, which will decrease the knowledge gap between countries, assuming that they have access to the technology of course.

A few days ago I held an interview with a project manager and the president of a creative marketing agency. I asked them which kind of hard skills you would have to have to be a successful marketer, and they said that "software skills is something that you should have as marketer, understanding excel, Photoshop, and other important software programs will increase your chances of becoming a successful marketer". I think that schools needs to understand that we should increase the hard skills in software programs, and make us learn the proper use of technology. I know that it can be hard for teachers to learn and teach such a rapid technology, but if they don't do it then students will be lacking even further skills and knowledge when they enter the marketplace.