An Answer to the Crisis of Mega-complexity: Get up Early and Walk

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Research in Education

Year: 2025

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An Answer to the Crisis of Mega-complexity: Get up Early and Walk

David L. Brooks

ABSTRACT:

Humankind is transitioning from super-complexity to mega-complexity, driven by artificial intelligence which is now making a grand assault on our ways of living. As a result, quartic education (or a new type of post-secondary education to the fourth degree) is proposed as a way to guide individuals through this complex new world. The new focus in education now has students shifting from knowledge consumption to knowledge production and to character formation. Thus, universities will evolve into “knowledge enterprises” with “learner-associates” as their central clients. Human virtues like integrity, wisdom, and compassion will become paramount in the age of AI. A “potentiality quotient” (PQ=IQ+EQ+VQ) will measure human capability more holistically. An age-old humanistic model is suggested to manage this future effectively. It may appear too simplistic, but it truly holds promise to change our world: get up early and walk. Getting up early at 5:00 a.m. and walking can lead to many individual and societal benefits. We can all engage in this early morning walk “AsaGo”, changing our lifestyles from sedentary 9-to-5 existences into a more self-directed, health-conscious, and a more humanistic commitment to a life well-lived instead of just barely managing to get through our tired, mainly night-time routines. The benefits from a 5:00 a.m. walk include improved general health, reduction of medical costs, greater longevity, increased productivity, more fulfilling community bonds, lower crime rates, and thus a revitalization of our world economies.

Keywords: Quartic Education, Knowledge Enterprise, Potentiality Quotient, Asago, Revitilization