Can we teach students how to disagree agreeably?

What is the state of our nation (UK) and how does this impact our schools and colleges?

Is our national/international situation so fraught and anxiety inducing that young people are over-anxious? Is this made worse by socail media and the us vs them that seems to be dominating a lot of the online space?

Are schools suitably ‘dialogic’ are we able to develop schools where dialectic and discussion is the centrepiece - teaching them how to take their place in ‘The Great Conversation of Humankind’?

Is there hope? How can schools help young people to see the humanity in each other, even those with whom you vehemently disagree?

What is the point of school? Is it changing? Should we focus on academic education or vocational? Are either right for the age of AI? Does creativity and play have a part to play or are we just in the business of filling up memories with Shakespeare and Algebra?

All this and more in this episode! Listen on your favourite platform or watch here.

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Is AI dumbing us down? Are schools in danger of making kids 'stupider'?

Should we make schools gymnasia of the mind?

Will an education for leisure replace an education for work?

All this and more in this episode!

Some links to material discussed:

Do our brains need knowledge in the age of AI? https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.11015

Scott Alexander's Misleading Victory: https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/scott-alexanders-misleading-victory?r=18455&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

Your Brain on Chat GPT: https://daviddidau.substack.com/p/the-cost-of-borrowed-thought

TikTok and AI are Junk Food: https://archive.is/20250512191652/https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/tiktok-and-ai-are-junk-food-start-dieting-m7pbtcpdv#selection-1385.0-1519.694

Are We Living in a Stupidogenic Society? https://substack.nomoremarking.com/p/are-we-living-in-a-stupidogenic-society

Flynn Effect and its Reversal: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6042097/

Reevaluating the Flynn Effect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289625000121

Will AI Make You Stupid? - https://archive.is/20250826084540/https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/07/16/will-ai-make-you-stupid#selection-1105.0-1367.47