Sat down to eat my lunch outside the Tower building today and began talking with a mature student called David. He was speaking about programing and language systems which learn through input principles and use these to come to logical conclusions. One of his concerns involved the loss of questioning and the embrace of assumption. In his line of work he found experts with knowledge and expertise requiring their skills to be placed into programs for others without this level of knowledge to use. The problem seemed to be that there was no encouragement to actually comprehend and then question the current expert opinion.

In "The Tipping Point" I was reminded of the rule of one hundred and fifty. When the distance between each person with a certain skill is reduced there is a closer and more interlinking relationship between skills and understanding in a much broader and more accessible way. Hierarchy was a word we discussed and how it fits into the problem David saw in the recording of knowledge and experience. The word came from the Greek hierarkhia relating to the religious order from high priest downwards. This hierarchy seemed to cause the reliance on assumption and obedience without the encouragement to question or rationalise.

I am glad I decided to sit outside to wait to pay my materials fee, I left 90 pounds lighter but with a little bit more information and and a slightly broader perspective on the way we learn and think.

"Childhood is known as the leaving age, teenage hood is known as the knowing age and maturity is known as the hoping age" - David from the bench outside the Tower building.