In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.
Ivan IllichRead
School prepares for the alienating institutionalization of life by teaching the need to be taught. Once this lesson is learned, people lose their incentive to grow in independence; they no longer find relatedness attractive, and close themselves off to the surprises which life offers when it is not predetermined by institutional definition.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the educational system for promoting conformity over independence.
Ivan Illich critiques the educational system, suggesting that traditional schooling prepares individuals for a life of conformity and institutionalization, stifling their desire for personal growth and independence. He argues that once people learn to rely on being taught, they become disengaged from the spontaneity and unexpected opportunities that life presents, leading to a detachment from genuine connections and experiences.
Themes
EducationIndependenceGrowthInstitutionConformity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about educational reform at a conference.
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The pupil is ... 'schooled' to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new.
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The myth of unending consumption has taken the place of the belief in life everlasting.
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Effective health care depends on self-care; this fact is currently heralded as if it were a discovery.
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Modern medicine is a negation of health. It isn't organised to serve human health, but only itself, as an institution. It makes more people sick than it heals.
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