Post-Capitalist Society

But one thing we can predict: the greatest change will be the change in knowledge—in its form and content; in its meaning; in its responsibility; and in what it means to be an educated person.

There is no “Queen of the Knowledges” in the knowledge society. All knowledges are equally valuable; all knowledges, in the words of the great medieval saint and philosopher St. Bonaventura, lead equally to the truth

We neither need nor will get “polymaths” who are at home in many knowledges; in fact, we will probably become even more specialized. But what we do need—and what will define the educated person in the knowledge society—is the ability to understand the various knowledges

All educated persons in the post-capitalist society will have to be prepared to understand both cultures.

The manager’s world, unless counterbalanced by the intellectual, becomes the stultifying bureaucracy of the “Organization Man.” But if the two balance each other, there can be creativity and order, fulfillment and mission.

The intellectual’s world, unless counterbalanced by the manager, becomes one in which everybody “does his

The educated person will therefore have to be prepared to live and work simultaneously in two cultures—that of the “intellectual,” who focuses on words and ideas, and that of the “manager,” who focuses on people and work.

Most, if not all, educated persons will practice their knowledge as members of an organization.

Tomorrow’s educated person will have to be prepared for life in a global world. It will be a “Westernized” world, but also increasingly a tribalized world

The educated person we need will have to be able to appreciate other cultures and traditions: the great heritage of Chinese, Japanese, Korean paintings and ceramics; the philosophers and religions of the Orient; and Islam, both as a religion and as a culture.