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Subject: You Are Not a Function
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View this post on the web at https://blog.cosmos-institute.org/p/you-are-no=
t-a-function

In the autumn of 1809, Prussia was a country that no longer knew what it wa=
s for. Three years earlier, Napoleon had destroyed its army in an afternoon=
 and walked into Berlin without resistance. The king fled. Half the territo=
ry was gone, the treasury empty. French soldiers were still garrisoned in t=
he capital.
As Prussia began rebuilding from the wreckage, most people assumed it neede=
d more officers, administrators, and engineers. People who could do things.=
 The task of designing the new system of education fell to a thirty-two-yea=
r-old diplomat named Wilhelm von Humboldt. He gave them something else enti=
rely.
In a series of memoranda written over the next year, he laid out a vision f=
or a new university in Berlin organized around Bildung. The word has no Eng=
lish equivalent. =E2=80=9CEducation=E2=80=9D is too narrow, =E2=80=9Cself-i=
mprovement=E2=80=9D too thin. =E2=80=9CFormation=E2=80=9D gets closest but =
still misses its moral weight.
Humboldt=E2=80=99s Bildung means the free, harmonious development of a huma=
n being=E2=80=99s powers into a complete and consistent whole, through enco=
unter with the world in its variety and resistance.
Mill, who took the idea from Humboldt, put it more simply: a human being is=
 more like a tree than a steam engine.
Humboldt proposed a university where professors and students would be joine=
d in the pursuit of knowledge, unconstrained by political demands. In a def=
eated nation hungry for officers and administrators, he was arguing for for=
mation before function.
The ideal of the modern research university, with its union of teaching and=
 inquiry, its seminar culture, and its commitment to academic freedom, desc=
ends from what Humboldt designed in those desperate months.
Today, the culture of Bildung that animated the university survives only at=
 the margins, sustained by people stubborn enough to work against the grain=
 of the institutions around them. Credentialism twisted the university into=
 a vendor of certificates, and the formation of the student as a complete h=
uman being came to seem anachronistic. The cathedrals remain, but not the f=
aith.
We are in a moment that rhymes with Humboldt=E2=80=99s own. Technological p=
ressure is once again pushing education toward the practical. The evidence =
of institutional collapse is everywhere [ https://substack.com/redirect/7f0=
04d26-69e4-498b-9da8-64b798a090ca?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudlu=
PwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA ]: flagship universities slashing PhD admissions=
, hundreds of degree programs have been eliminated, dozens of small college=
s have closed, and a decline in the college-age population still lies ahead=
=2E
The loudest responses to the crisis have come from outside the university. =
Alex Karp tells young people to skip college and learn a trade. Marc Andree=
ssen argues the university is a credentialing middleman and should be disin=
termediated. Both are right that the university is failing. But if the answ=
er to a broken formation system is to skip formation altogether, you have a=
lready conceded that education is justified only by utility.=20
Neither is asking the question Humboldt asked: What is a human being, that =
education should serve it?
The Tree and the Trap
Before Humboldt, the Prussian system assigned students to a vocation, train=
ed them in it, and delivered them into their function. Even on those terms,=
 Bildung wins. Broadly cultivated judgment produces better doctors and bett=
er engineers. Technical skill on a foundation of general cultivation is mor=
e resilient and more humane than technical skill resting on nothing.
But if that were the whole justification, Bildung would be nothing more tha=
n a roundabout way of minting skilled professionals. A pedagogy can be just=
ified by output. Bildung cannot.
A tree does not exist in order to produce lumber. You can make lumber from =
it, and good lumber is nothing to sneer at. But if you look at a tree and s=
ee only lumber, you have missed what is standing in front of you. Something=
 is growing there under its own power, toward its own form, and the growing=
 is not a means to some further end.
Humboldt=E2=80=99s claim about human beings is the same shape. A person is =
a self-developing being whose worth is not exhausted by function.
Bildung braids together the Kantian claim that no person is merely a means,=
 the Greek ideal of harmonious excellence across mind and body and characte=
r, and the Romantic conviction that we develop through encounter with what =
resists us.
You have had the experience even if you never had a word for it. Real engag=
ement with something that has its own demands=E2=80=94a hard problem, a ser=
ious book, a gifted teacher=E2=80=94changes who you are. You could not have=
 planned the person you became.
Such formation is not the property of any particular university department.=
 This is not a =E2=80=9Csave the humanities=E2=80=9D argument. A coder who,=
 after tackling a hard systems-design problem, comes out thinking different=
ly about complexity, tradeoffs, and the limits of formal reasoning has unde=
rgone a kind of Bildung=E2=80=94but only if the encounter changed who they =
are, not just what they can do.
The resistance to all this is understandable.
In a world where your economic value can evaporate overnight, =E2=80=9CBeco=
me a whole person=E2=80=9D sounds like advice from someone who has never wo=
rried about next month=E2=80=99s rent. The utilitarian case for education h=
as the force of necessity behind it. For millions of people, making yoursel=
f useful is what responsibility to their families demands.
Yet if the response to being replaceable is always to train for a different=
 function, you have entered a race you structurally cannot win. The princip=
le that makes your education valuable is the same principle that makes you =
disposable the moment the function migrates.
The scramble into computer science was an early sign of the trap: students =
rushed toward the field that seemed safest, and then AI began destabilizing=
 the very functions it trained them to perform. The flight to function look=
s rational from inside it; that is what makes it a trap.
Solitude and Freedom
Bildung cannot be specified in advance. Once you define what the formed per=
son looks like, you have replaced formation with training. So how do you bu=
ild institutions around it?
Humboldt=E2=80=99s solution was to design an environment rather than a curr=
iculum. He based the University of Berlin on two principles: solitude and f=
reedom, though they meant something precise in his hands. The university wo=
uld not answer to the demand for immediate use and  inquiry would follow th=
e question wherever it led, unconstrained by predetermined ends.
The undoing of that design came in two phases.
First, a slow hollowing. The German research model crossed the Atlantic whe=
n Johns Hopkins was founded in 1876 on Humboldt=E2=80=99s model. But discip=
lines hardened into guilds and career tracks, postwar federal funding built=
 research enterprises increasingly detached from teaching, and mass enrollm=
ent turned the degree into a sorting mechanism. The university no longer ha=
d a single organizing purpose, and no one was left responsible for the stud=
ent as a whole person. By the mid-twentieth century, the university preside=
nt Clark Kerr could describe the resulting =E2=80=9Cmultiversity=E2=80=9D a=
s a collection of unrelated enterprises held together by a common heating p=
lant.
Then, a rejection of the cure. Recently, at the University of Tulsa, the ph=
ilosopher Jennifer Frey built a Great Books honors college from scratch. It=
 was a serious formation program inside an institution organized around cre=
dentialing. The university removed her, restructured the program, and repla=
ced the deanship with a directorship.
Back to Schol=C3=A9
But even if the institutions had held, formation requires something they co=
uld never secure at scale: time.
Aristotle called it schol=C3=A9. Humboldt had a related word for it: Mu=C3=
=9Fe. Both named a kind of structured freedom for the work of becoming, and=
 for most of history that freedom was radically exclusive.
Aristotle could imagine the highest forms of human flourishing only for tho=
se relieved of labor by wealth and the work of subordinates and slaves. The=
 good life required freedom from necessity, and in his world only a few cou=
ld have it. But in the first book of the Politics he imagined something str=
anger: that if shuttles could weave by themselves and picks could play the =
lyre, craftsmen would need no subordinates and masters would need no slaves=
=2E The =E2=80=9Cself-guided machine=E2=80=9D=
 [ https://substack.com/redirect=
/142f1d56-562a-40e1-b917-3604154625ba?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTN=
udluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA ] would mean that the material basis for lei=
sure no longer depended on the unfreedom of others. It is one of the oldest=
 thought experiments in Western philosophy, and we are now enacting it.
Aristotle did not celebrate the prospect. He understood that freedom from n=
ecessity does not automatically yield the pursuits that make such freedom w=
orth having. In his account, those with wealth and leisure often turned to =
unlimited acquisition or bodily gratification rather than to the activities=
 that justify leisure in the first place.
With AI, we are building something like self-guided machines. Whether these=
 systems liberate or merely displace is not settled. But the possibility of=
 leisure at scale is real enough to become a serious question.=20
If AI can compress parts of instruction, it may deepen learning where it is=
 used and clear ground for formation where it gives time back. But only if =
it preserves productive struggle [ https://substack.com/redirect/8b3388d5-7=
5b2-4f1d-9171-2220e32bcb88?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWk=
lSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA ] rather than bypassing it.=20
The alternative is already visible: autocomplete for life [ https://substac=
k.com/redirect/3d6b6086-0fec-418f-974d-e8e511139231?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0=
=2Eh9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6e=
WS-HyoA ]. Not just help with expressi=
on, but the slow outsourcing of judgment itself. That is Bildung=E2=80=99s =
antithesis.
Worse, the same technological society enabling leisure is also shaping the =
desires of the people who receive it. If our dispositions have already been=
 trained toward optimization and outsourced judgment, the freed hours may a=
rrive in hands that no longer know what to do with them.
For most of history, the conditions of formation were reserved for the few.=
 The capacity for it was not. If schol=C3=A9 at scale is now possible, refu=
sing to pursue it ratifies a world in which full human development remains =
the privilege of those who can afford time.
In the Afterglow
Bildung is, at its normative core, anti-servility: the effort to form peopl=
e who cannot be reduced to instruments of external authority, whether state=
, market, or algorithm.
The people who use AI well right now are drawing on judgment they formed be=
fore these tools became ambient. They know when to trust an LLM=E2=80=99s o=
utput and when to push back because they learned to read, argue, and sustai=
n attention under conditions in which those acts were not so easily outsour=
ced. They bring something the tool cannot supply.
Nietzsche thought secular liberals were living off the moral capital of a C=
hristianity they had officially abandoned: inherited capacities that could =
persist for a time even after the culture that formed them had ceased to re=
new them. The kind of judgment this essay is defending may be a similar aft=
erglow, formed in a world before AI mediated everything.
Without that judgment, you get agency without autonomy [ https://substack.c=
om/redirect/41d63b65-404c-4053-81cc-084d5821fae7?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9=
dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA ].
If the capacities required for non-servile life in an AI world were all for=
med in a pre-AI world, what happens when that formation stops? You can live=
 on an inheritance for a while. You cannot educate a civilization on inheri=
ted judgment forever
Cosmos Institute [ https://substack.com/redirect/2c56b564-b3af-44e6-97e5-91=
6edf564523?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-H=
yoA ] is the Academy for Philosopher-Builders, technologists building AI fo=
r human flourishing. We run fellowships, fund AI prototypes, and host semin=
ars with institutions like Oxford, Aspen Institute, and Liberty Fund.

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  .typography.editor .markup div.subscription-widget-wrap .subscription-wid=
get.show-subscribe .subscription-widget-subscribe .button,
  .typography .markup div.subscription-widget-wrap-editor .subscription-wid=
get.show-subscribe .subscription-widget-subscribe .button,
  .typography.editor .markup div.subscription-widget-wrap-editor .subscript=
ion-widget.show-subscribe .subscription-widget-subscribe .button,
  .typography .markup div.captioned-button-wrap .subscription-widget.show-s=
ubscribe .subscription-widget-subscribe .button,
  .typography.editor .markup div.captioned-button-wrap .subscription-widget=
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    padding: 10px 12px;
    min-width: 110px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  .typography .markup .twitter-embed,
  .typography.editor .markup .twitter-embed,
  .typography .markup .tweet,
  .typography.editor .markup .tweet {
    padding: 12px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  .typography .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-text,
  .typography.editor .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-text,
  .typography .markup .tweet .tweet-text,
  .typography.editor .markup .tweet .tweet-text {
    font-size: 14px;
    line-height: 20px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  .typography .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.two,
  .typography.editor .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.two,
  .typography .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.two,
  .typography.editor .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.two,
  .typography .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.three,
  .typography.editor .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.three,
  .typography .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.three,
  .typography.editor .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.three,
  .typography .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.four,
  .typography.editor .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.four,
  .typography .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.four,
  .typography.editor .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.four {
    height: 200px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  .typography .markup .twitter-embed a.expanded-link .expanded-link-img,
  .typography.editor .markup .twitter-embed a.expanded-link .expanded-link-=
img,
  .typography .markup .tweet a.expanded-link .expanded-link-img,
  .typography.editor .markup .tweet a.expanded-link .expanded-link-img {
    max-height: 180px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  .typography .markup .twitter-embed a.expanded-link .expanded-link-descrip=
tion,
  .typography.editor .markup .twitter-embed a.expanded-link .expanded-link-=
description,
  .typography .markup .tweet a.expanded-link .expanded-link-description,
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ion {
    display: none;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .typography .markup .apple-podcast-container,
  .typography.editor .markup .apple-podcast-container {
    width: unset;
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}
@media (max-width: 420px) {
  .typography .markup .install-substack-app-embed img.install-substack-app-=
embed-img,
  .typography.editor .markup .install-substack-app-embed img.install-substa=
ck-app-embed-img {
    margin: 0 auto 16px auto;
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}
@media (max-width: 420px) {
  .typography .markup .install-substack-app-embed .install-substack-app-emb=
ed-text,
  .typography.editor .markup .install-substack-app-embed .install-substack-=
app-embed-text {
    margin: 0 0 12px 0;
    max-width: 100%;
    width: auto;
    text-align: center;
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}
@media (max-width: 420px) {
  .typography .markup .install-substack-app-embed .install-substack-app-emb=
ed-link,
  .typography.editor .markup .install-substack-app-embed .install-substack-=
app-embed-link {
    display: flex;
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}
@media screen and (min-width: 481px) {
  .share-button-container {
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  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 481px) {
  .share-button-container a.comment {
    height: 38px;
    line-height: 38px;
    padding-right: 10px;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
  .share-button-container .separator {
    display: block;
    margin: 0;
    height: 8px;
    border-left: none;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
  .share-button-container a.share.first img {
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}
@media screen and (min-width: 481px) {
  .share-button-container a.mobile {
    display: none !important;
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}
@media screen and (min-width: 541px) {
  .settings-add-pub-modal-wrapper .container .add-recommending-pub-modal-co=
ntainer {
    padding: 36px;
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}
@media screen and (min-width: 541px) {
  .settings-add-pub-modal-wrapper .container .add-recommending-pub-modal-co=
ntainer .footer {
    position: absolute;
    bottom: 36px;
    margin: 0px;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .header-anchor-parent {
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 768px) {
  .post {
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  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post .post-header .post-label {
    margin-top: 8px;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post .post-header .meta-author-wrap.alternative-meta .meta-right-column =
=2Epost-meta {
    margin-top: 6px;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post .footer-facepile-container {
    height: 64px;
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    display: flex;
    align-items: center;
    justify-content: flex-start;
    width: 100%;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post .post-footer.use-separators {
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post .post-footer.next-prev {
    height: 64px;
    justify-content: space-between;
    box-sizing: border-box;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post-contributor-footer .post-contributor-bio-table {
    display: block;
  }
  .post-contributor-footer .post-contributor-bio-table-row {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: row;
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  .post-contributor-footer .post-contributor-bio-userhead-cell,
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  .post-contributor-footer .post-contributor-bio-body-cell {
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  .post-contributor-footer .post-contributor-bio-controls .button.primary {
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}
@media screen and (min-width: 768px) {
  .post-silhouette {
    padding: 32px 0;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post-silhouette .post-silhouette-title {
    margin-top: 10.44225025px;
    height: 120px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post-silhouette .post-silhouette-meta {
    width: 75%;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post-silhouette .post-silhouette-meta.with-byline-image {
    margin: 20px 0;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .use-theme-bg .post-meta.alternative-meta .post-meta-item,
  .post-meta.alternative-meta .post-meta-item {
    padding-right: 16px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 370px) {
  .use-theme-bg .post-meta.alternative-meta .post-meta-item,
  .post-meta.alternative-meta .post-meta-item {
    font-size: 14px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .use-theme-bg .post-meta.alternative-meta .post-meta-item.guest-author-pu=
blication,
  .post-meta.alternative-meta .post-meta-item.guest-author-publication {
    display: none;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 370px) {
  .post-meta .post-meta-item .post-meta-button {
    height: 36px !important;
    /* important to override in-line height style on emails */
  }
  .post-meta .post-meta-item .post-meta-button .meta-button-label {
    display: none;
  }
  .post-meta .post-meta-item .post-meta-button > svg {
    margin-right: 0;
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}
@media screen and (max-width: 370px) {
  .post-meta .post-meta-item {
    font-size: 12px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post .floating-subscribe-button {
    bottom: 20px;
    right: 20px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 1024px) {
  body .pullquote-align-left,
  body .pullquote-align-right,
  body .pullquote-align-wide,
  body .pullquote-align-center {
    float: none;
    margin: 0 auto;
    width: 100%;
    max-width: 100%;
  }
}
@media all and (-ms-high-contrast: none), (-ms-high-contrast: active) {
  body .markup table.image-wrapper img,
  body .markup table.kindle-wrapper img {
    max-width: 550px;
  }
}
@media (min-width: 1024px) {
  body:not(:has(#toc)) .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-off=
set-left) {
    margin-left: var(--image-offset-margin);
  }
  body:not(:has(#toc)) .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-off=
set-right) {
    margin-right: var(--image-offset-margin);
  }
}
@media (min-width: 1300px) {
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-offset-left) {
    margin-left: var(--image-offset-margin);
  }
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-offset-right) {
    margin-right: var(--image-offset-margin);
  }
}
@media (max-width: 1024px) {
  body {
    /* Disable offset on mobile/tablet */
  }
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-align-left),
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-align-right) {
    float: none;
    margin: 1em auto;
    max-width: 100%;
    width: auto;
    padding: 0;
  }
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-align-left.thefp),
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-align-right.thefp) =
{
    margin: 1em auto;
  }
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-offset-left),
  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-offset-right) {
    margin: 1em auto;
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  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-align-left) .image2=
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  body .captioned-image-container figure:has(> a.image2-align-right) .image=
2-inset {
    display: block;
    justify-content: initial;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 768px) {
  body .markup div.sponsorship-campaign-embed {
    margin-top: 24px;
    margin-bottom: 24px;
  }
  body .markup div.sponsorship-campaign-embed:first-child {
    margin-top: 0px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup div.youtube-overlay,
  body .markup div.vimeo-overlay {
    display: none !important;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 370px) {
  body .markup div.tiktok-wrap {
    width: calc(95vw - 32px);
    height: calc((95vw - 32px - 2px) / 0.485714);
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup div.embedded-publication-wrap .embedded-publication.show-sub=
scribe {
    padding: 24px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup div.subscription-widget-wrap .subscription-widget.show-subsc=
ribe,
  body .markup div.subscription-widget-wrap-editor .subscription-widget.sho=
w-subscribe,
  body .markup div.captioned-button-wrap .subscription-widget.show-subscrib=
e {
    padding: 0px 24px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup div.subscription-widget-wrap .subscription-widget.show-subsc=
ribe .subscription-widget-subscribe .button,
  body .markup div.subscription-widget-wrap-editor .subscription-widget.sho=
w-subscribe .subscription-widget-subscribe .button,
  body .markup div.captioned-button-wrap .subscription-widget.show-subscrib=
e .subscription-widget-subscribe .button {
    padding: 10px 12px;
    min-width: 110px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup .twitter-embed,
  body .markup .tweet {
    padding: 12px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-text,
  body .markup .tweet .tweet-text {
    font-size: 14px;
    line-height: 20px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.two,
  body .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.two,
  body .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.three,
  body .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.three,
  body .markup .twitter-embed .tweet-photos-container.four,
  body .markup .tweet .tweet-photos-container.four {
    height: 200px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup .twitter-embed a.expanded-link .expanded-link-img,
  body .markup .tweet a.expanded-link .expanded-link-img {
    max-height: 180px;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup .twitter-embed a.expanded-link .expanded-link-description,
  body .markup .tweet a.expanded-link .expanded-link-description {
    display: none;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  body .markup .apple-podcast-container {
    width: unset;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 420px) {
  body .markup .install-substack-app-embed img.install-substack-app-embed-i=
mg {
    margin: 0 auto 16px auto;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 420px) {
  body .markup .install-substack-app-embed .install-substack-app-embed-text=
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    margin: 0 0 12px 0;
    max-width: 100%;
    width: auto;
    text-align: center;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 420px) {
  body .markup .install-substack-app-embed .install-substack-app-embed-link=
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    display: flex;
    justify-content: center;
  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 500px) {
  body .header a.logo {
    width: 42px;
    height: 42px;
    border-radius: 12px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 420px) {
  body .subscription-receipt table:first-of-type .subscription-amount .subs=
cription-discount {
    width: 72px !important;
  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 481px) {
  body .share-button-container {
    height: auto;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
  body .share-button-container .separator {
    display: block !important;
    margin: 0 !important;
    height: 8px !important;
    border-left: none !important;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .digest .item .post-meta-item.audience {
    display: none;
  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 500px) {
  .digest-publication .logo img {
    width: 42px;
    height: 42px;
    border-radius: 8px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .comments-page .container .comment-list .collapsed-reply {
    margin-left: calc(10 + 32px - 24px);
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .comment > .comment-list {
    padding-left: 24px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .finish-magic-login-modal .modal-content .container {
    padding: 24px 0;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  .reader2-text-b3 {
    line-height: 24px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .reader2-text-h4 {
    line-height: 24px;
  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 541px) {
  .user-profile-modal {
    padding-left: 12px;
    padding-right: 12px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .subscribe-widget form.form .sideBySideWrap button.rightButton {
    padding: 10px 12px;
  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 541px) {
  .pub-icon:hover .logo-hover,
  .feed-item-icon:hover .logo-hover {
    display: block;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .post-ufi.single-full-width-button .post-ufi-button-wrapper {
    width: 100%;
    padding: 16px;
  }
  .post-ufi.single-full-width-button .post-ufi-button-wrapper:empty {
    display: none;
  }
  .post-ufi.single-full-width-button .post-ufi-button {
    width: 100%;
    justify-content: center;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 768px) {
  .file-embed-wrapper {
    padding: 0;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 768px) {
  .file-embed-wrapper-editor {
    padding: 0;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 768px) {
  .file-embed-wrapper-editor:active {
    padding: 0;
  }
}
@media only screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .file-embed-button.wide,
  .file-embed-error-button.wide {
    display: none;
  }
}
@media only screen and (min-width: 630px) {
  .file-embed-button.narrow,
  .file-embed-error-button.narrow {
    display: none;
  }
}
@media screen and (min-width: 541px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper .audio-player {
    min-width: 500px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper .audio-player .audio-player-progress {
    border-left-width: 16px;
    border-right-width: 16px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper .audio-player .audio-player-progress .audio-player-=
progress-bar .audio-player-progress-bar-popup {
    top: -54px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-progress {
    border-left-width: 16px;
    border-right-width: 16px;
  }
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-progress .audio-p=
layer-progress-bar .audio-player-progress-bar-popup {
    top: -54px;
  }
}
@media (min-width: 250px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player {
    padding: 32px;
  }
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group {
    display: flex;
  }
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group .button:last-of-type=
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    display: block;
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}
@media (min-width: 300px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group {
    display: block;
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  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group .button:first-of-typ=
e {
    display: block;
  }
}
@media (min-width: 350px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-substack-logo {
    display: block;
  }
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-title {
    margin-top: 16px;
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  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-hero-image-contai=
ner {
    padding-top: 15%;
    width: 15%;
    display: block;
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  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group .button:first-of-typ=
e {
    display: block;
  }
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-substack-logo {
    display: block;
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}
@media (min-width: 350px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-hero-image-contai=
ner {
    padding-top: 25%;
    width: 25%;
    display: block;
  }
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group {
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  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group .button:first-of-typ=
e {
    display: block;
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}
@media (min-width: 400px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-hero-image-contai=
ner {
    padding-top: 40%;
    width: 40%;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 400px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group {
    margin-top: 12px;
  }
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .btn-group .button {
    font-size: 13px;
    padding: 6px 12px;
    height: auto;
    margin-top: 10px;
  }
}
@media (min-width: 600px) {
  .audio-player-wrapper-fancy .audio-player .audio-player-hero-image-contai=
ner {
    padding-top: 55%;
    width: 55%;
  }
}
@media (max-width: 650px) {
  .poll-editor-modal {
    min-width: calc(100% - 20px);
  }
}
@media (max-width: 750px) {
  .poll-embed .poll-anchor-target .poll-anchor-copy-button {
    left: 8px;
    top: 45px;
  }
}</style></head><body class=3D"email-body" style=3D"font-kerning: auto;--im=
age-offset-margin: -120px;"><img src=3D"https://eotrx.substackcdn.com/open?=
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ost-meta" role=3D"presentation" width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"=
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ght-20-t4M0El font-meta-MWBumP size-11-NuY2Zx weight-medium-fw81nC transfor=
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,'Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight: 500;text-transform: uppercase;letter-spacin=
g: .2px;text-decoration: none" href=3D"https://substack.com/@brendanmccord"=
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UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji',=
'Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight: 500;text-transform: uppercase;letter-spacing=
: .2px;"><time datetime=3D"2026-04-03T14:35:43.026Z">Apr 3</time></div></td=
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o" style=3D"--image-offset-margin: -120px;padding: 32px 0 0 0;font-size: 16=
px;line-height: 26px;"><div class=3D"body markup" dir=3D"auto" style=3D"tex=
t-align: initial;font-size: 16px;line-height: 26px;width: 100%;word-break: =
break-word;margin-bottom: 16px;font-family: Lora,sans-serif;font-weight: 40=
0;"><div class=3D"captioned-image-container-static" style=3D"font-size: 16p=
x;line-height: 26px;margin: 32px auto;margin-top: 0;"><figure style=3D"widt=
h: 100%;margin: 0 auto;"><table class=3D"image-wrapper" width=3D"100%" bord=
er=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0" data-component-name=3D"Image2T=
oDOMStatic" style=3D"mso-padding-alt: 1em 0 1.6em;"><tbody><tr><td style=3D=
"text-align: center;"></td><td class=3D"content" align=3D"left" width=3D"14=
56" style=3D"text-align: center;"><a class=3D"image-link" target=3D"_blank"=
 href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/32640d45-f522-44e9-a458-e3fc9c151608=
?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA" rel=
=3D"" style=3D"position: relative;flex-direction: column;align-items: cente=
r;padding: 0;width: auto;height: auto;border: none;text-decoration: none;di=
splay: block;margin: 0;margin-top: 0;margin-bottom: 0;"><img class=3D"wide-=
image" data-attrs=3D"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.=
amazonaws.com/public/images/822ebd2d-7953-4acd-9b28-6666fe9aeddf_1600x1215.=
png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot=
;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1106,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;=
resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;ti=
tle&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFo=
ld&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,=
&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:fa=
lse}" alt=3D"" width=3D"550" height=3D"417.78846153846155" src=3D"https://s=
ubstackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qvH2!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_p=
rogressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpubli=
c%2Fimages%2F822ebd2d-7953-4acd-9b28-6666fe9aeddf_1600x1215.png" style=3D"b=
order: none !important;vertical-align: middle;display: block;-ms-interpolat=
ion-mode: bicubic;height: auto;margin-bottom: 0;width: auto !important;max-=
width: 100% !important;margin: 0 auto;"></a></td><td style=3D"text-align: c=
enter;"></td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption class=3D"image-caption" style=
=3D"box-sizing: content-box;color: rgb(119,119,119);font-size: 14px;line-he=
ight: 20px;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: -.15px;margin-top: 8px;width: 7=
0%;padding-left: 15%;padding-right: 15%;text-align: center;"><em> The Trium=
ph of Love and Beauty </em><span>by Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1630)</s=
pan></figcaption></figure></div><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(5=
4,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">In the autumn of 1809, Prussia=
 was a country that no longer knew what it was for. Three years earlier, Na=
poleon had destroyed its army in an afternoon and walked into Berlin withou=
t resistance. The king fled. Half the territory was gone, the treasury empt=
y. French soldiers were still garrisoned in the capital.</p><p style=3D"mar=
gin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">As=
 Prussia began rebuilding from the wreckage, most people assumed it needed =
more officers, administrators, and engineers. People who could do things. T=
he task of designing the new system of education fell to a thirty-two-year-=
old diplomat named Wilhelm von Humboldt. He gave them something else entire=
ly.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26p=
x;font-size: 16px;"><span>In a series of memoranda written over the next ye=
ar, he laid out a vision for a new university in Berlin organized around </=
span><em>Bildung</em><span>. The word has no English equivalent. &#8220;Edu=
cation&#8221; is too narrow, &#8220;self-improvement&#8221; too thin. &#822=
0;Formation&#8221; gets closest but still misses its moral weight.</span></=
p><blockquote style=3D"border-left: 4px solid #25384c;margin: 20px 0;paddin=
g: 0;"><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);margin-left: 20p=
x;line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Humboldt&#8217;s Bildung means the fr=
ee, harmonious development of a human being&#8217;s powers into a complete =
and consistent whole, through encounter with the world in its variety and r=
esistance.</p></blockquote><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,=
55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Mill, who took the idea from Humbol=
dt, put it more simply: a human being is more like a tree than a steam engi=
ne.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26p=
x;font-size: 16px;">Humboldt proposed a university where professors and stu=
dents would be joined in the pursuit of knowledge, unconstrained by politic=
al demands. In a defeated nation hungry for officers and administrators, he=
 was arguing for formation before function.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px=
 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">The ideal of th=
e modern research university, with its union of teaching and inquiry, its s=
eminar culture, and its commitment to academic freedom, descends from what =
Humboldt designed in those desperate months.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20p=
x 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Today, the cul=
ture of Bildung that animated the university survives only at the margins, =
sustained by people stubborn enough to work against the grain of the instit=
utions around them. Credentialism twisted the university into a vendor of c=
ertificates, and the formation of the student as a complete human being cam=
e to seem anachronistic. The cathedrals remain, but not the faith.</p><p st=
yle=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size:=
 16px;"><span>We are in a moment that rhymes with Humboldt&#8217;s own. Tec=
hnological pressure is once again pushing education toward the practical. <=
/span><a href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/7f004d26-69e4-498b-9da8-64b7=
98a090ca?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-Hyo=
A" rel=3D"" style=3D"color: rgb(54,55,55);text-decoration: underline;">The =
evidence of institutional collapse is everywhere</a><span>: flagship univer=
sities slashing PhD admissions, hundreds of degree programs have been elimi=
nated, dozens of small colleges have closed, and a decline in the college-a=
ge population still lies ahead.</span></p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;co=
lor: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">The loudest response=
s to the crisis have come from outside the university. Alex Karp tells youn=
g people to skip college and learn a trade. Marc Andreessen argues the univ=
ersity is a credentialing middleman and should be disintermediated. Both ar=
e right that the university is failing. But if the answer to a broken forma=
tion system is to skip formation altogether, you have already conceded that=
 education is justified only by utility. </p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0=
;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Neither is asking=
 the question Humboldt asked: What is a human being, that education should =
serve it?</p><div class=3D"subscribe-widget is-signed-up" data-component-na=
me=3D"SubscribeWidget" style=3D"margin: 0 0 1em;direction: ltr;font-size: 1=
6px;line-height: 26px;"><div class=3D"pencraft pc-reset button-wrapper" sty=
le=3D"text-decoration: unset;list-style: none;font-size: 16px;line-height: =
26px;text-align: center;cursor: pointer;border-radius: 4px;"><a class=3D"bu=
tton subscribe-btn primary" href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjo=
iaHR0cHM6Ly9ibG9nLmNvc21vcy1pbnN0aXR1dGUub3JnL3N1YnNjcmliZT91dG1fc291cmNlPX=
Bvc3QmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPWVtYWlsLWNoZWNrb3V0Jm5leHQ9aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZibG9nL=
mNvc21vcy1pbnN0aXR1dGUub3JnJTJGcCUyRnlvdS1hcmUtbm90LWEtZnVuY3Rpb24mcj01cXF5=
cXgmdG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvek5EY3lOVGc1T0RVc0ltbGhkQ0k2TVRjM05USXlOams=
xTWl3aVpYaHdJam94TnpjM09ERTRPVFV5TENKcGMzTWlPaUp3ZFdJdE1qSXlOVGM1TkNJc0luTj=
FZaUk2SW1Ob1pXTnJiM1YwSW4wLkcxbEdvU1I2ZlE4QnFrb3YwTG5xcTUwR1V5TGVXMkhWQkJ0R=
zNjaXRSWFUiLCJwIjoxOTMwNjU1NzEsInMiOjIyMjU3OTQsImYiOnRydWUsInUiOjM0NzI1ODk4=
NSwiaWF0IjoxNzc1MjI2OTUyLCJleHAiOjIwOTA4MDI5NTIsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0wIiwic3ViIjo=
ibGluay1yZWRpcmVjdCJ9.93IyIO5QRtdB5cJ2J_NzVT7IUoNmt2UHSDhVquyg-Gs?&utm_medi=
um=3Demail&utm_source=3Dsubscribe-widget&utm_content=3D193065571" style=3D"=
font-family: system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,H=
elvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Sy=
mbol';display: inline-block;box-sizing: border-box;cursor: pointer;border: =
none;border-radius: 8px;font-size: 14px;line-height: 20px;font-weight: 600;=
text-align: center;opacity: 1;outline: none;white-space: nowrap;text-decora=
tion: none !important;margin: 0 auto;background-color: #25384c;color: #ffff=
ff !important;padding: 12px 20px;height: auto;"><span style=3D"color: #ffff=
ff;text-decoration: none;">Upgrade to paid</span></a></div></div><h3 class=
=3D"header-anchor-post" style=3D"position: relative;font-family: 'SF Pro Di=
splay',-apple-system-headline,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'S=
egoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Em=
oji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight: bold;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiase=
d;-moz-osx-font-smoothing: antialiased;-webkit-appearance: optimizelegibili=
ty;-moz-appearance: optimizelegibility;appearance: optimizelegibility;margi=
n: 1em 0 0.625em 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 1.16em;font-size: 1.37=
5em;"><strong>The Tree and the Trap</strong></h3><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20=
px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Before Humbol=
dt, the Prussian system assigned students to a vocation, trained them in it=
, and delivered them into their function. Even on those terms, Bildung wins=
=2E Broadly cultivated judgment produce=
s better doctors and better engineers.=
 Technical skill on a foundation of general cultivation is more resilient a=
nd more humane than technical skill resting on nothing.</p><p style=3D"marg=
in: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">But=
 if that were the whole justification, Bildung would be nothing more than a=
 roundabout way of minting skilled professionals. A pedagogy can be justifi=
ed by output. Bildung cannot.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(=
54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">A tree does not exist in orde=
r to produce lumber. You can make lumber from it, and good lumber is nothin=
g to sneer at. But if you look at a tree and see only lumber, you have miss=
ed what is standing in front of you. Something is growing there under its o=
wn power, toward its own form, and the growing is not a means to some furth=
er end.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height:=
 26px;font-size: 16px;">Humboldt&#8217;s claim about human beings is the sa=
me shape. A person is a self-developing being whose worth is not exhausted =
by function.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-he=
ight: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Bildung braids together the Kantian claim that=
 no person is merely a means, the Greek ideal of harmonious excellence acro=
ss mind and body and character, and the Romantic conviction that we develop=
 through encounter with what resists us.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;=
color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">You have had the e=
xperience even if you never had a word for it. Real engagement with somethi=
ng that has its own demands&#8212;a hard problem, a serious book, a gifted =
teacher&#8212;changes who you are. You could not have planned the person yo=
u became.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-heigh=
t: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Such formation is not the property of any particu=
lar university department. This is not a &#8220;save the humanities&#8221; =
argument. A coder who, after tackling a hard systems-design problem, comes =
out thinking differently about complexity, tradeoffs, and the limits of for=
mal reasoning has undergone a kind of Bildung&#8212;but only if the encount=
er changed who they are, not just what they can do.</p><p style=3D"margin: =
0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">The res=
istance to all this is understandable.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;co=
lor: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">In a world where you=
r economic value can evaporate overnight, &#8220;Become a whole person&#822=
1; sounds like advice from someone who has never worried about next month&#=
8217;s rent. The utilitarian case for education has the force of necessity =
behind it. For millions of people, making yourself useful is what responsib=
ility to their families demands.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: r=
gb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Yet if the response to bei=
ng replaceable is always to train for a different function, you have entere=
d a race you structurally cannot win. The principle that makes your educati=
on valuable is the same principle that makes you disposable the moment the =
function migrates.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);l=
ine-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">The scramble into computer science was a=
n early sign of the trap: students rushed toward the field that seemed safe=
st, and then AI began destabilizing the very functions it trained them to p=
erform. The flight to function looks rational from inside it; that is what =
makes it a trap.</p><h3 class=3D"header-anchor-post" style=3D"position: rel=
ative;font-family: 'SF Pro Display',-apple-system-headline,system-ui,-apple=
-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Ap=
ple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight: bold;-webk=
it-font-smoothing: antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing: antialiased;-webkit=
-appearance: optimizelegibility;-moz-appearance: optimizelegibility;appeara=
nce: optimizelegibility;margin: 1em 0 0.625em 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-h=
eight: 1.16em;font-size: 1.375em;"><strong>Solitude and Freedom</strong></h=
3><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;fon=
t-size: 16px;">Bildung cannot be specified in advance. Once you define what=
 the formed person looks like, you have replaced formation with training. S=
o how do you build institutions around it?</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px =
0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Humboldt&#8217;s=
 solution was to design an environment rather than a curriculum. He based t=
he University of Berlin on two principles: solitude and freedom, though the=
y meant something precise in his hands. The university would not answer to =
the demand for immediate use and  inquiry would follow the question whereve=
r it led, unconstrained by predetermined ends.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 2=
0px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">The undoing =
of that design came in two phases.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color:=
 rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">First, a slow hollowing.=
 The German research model crossed the Atlantic when Johns Hopkins was foun=
ded in 1876 on Humboldt&#8217;s model. But disciplines hardened into guilds=
 and career tracks, postwar federal funding built research enterprises incr=
easingly detached from teaching, and mass enrollment turned the degree into=
 a sorting mechanism. The university no longer had a single organizing purp=
ose, and no one was left responsible for the student as a whole person. By =
the mid-twentieth century, the university president Clark Kerr could descri=
be the resulting &#8220;multiversity&#8221; as a collection of unrelated en=
terprises held together by a common heating plant.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0=
 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Then, a =
rejection of the cure. Recently, at the University of Tulsa, the philosophe=
r Jennifer Frey built a Great Books honors college from scratch. It was a s=
erious formation program inside an institution organized around credentiali=
ng. The university removed her, restructured the program, and replaced the =
deanship with a directorship.</p><h3 class=3D"header-anchor-post" style=3D"=
position: relative;font-family: 'SF Pro Display',-apple-system-headline,sys=
tem-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,s=
ans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weigh=
t: bold;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing: antial=
iased;-webkit-appearance: optimizelegibility;-moz-appearance: optimizelegib=
ility;appearance: optimizelegibility;margin: 1em 0 0.625em 0;color: rgb(54,=
55,55);line-height: 1.16em;font-size: 1.375em;"><strong>Back to Schol&#233;=
</strong></h3><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-heig=
ht: 26px;font-size: 16px;">But even if the institutions had held, formation=
 requires something they could never secure at scale: time.</p><p style=3D"=
margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;"=
><span>Aristotle called it </span><em>schol&#233;</em><span>. Humboldt had =
a related word for it: </span><em>Mu&#223;e</em><span>. Both named a kind o=
f structured freedom for the work of becoming, and for most of history that=
 freedom was radically exclusive.</span></p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;=
color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;"><span>Aristotle co=
uld imagine the highest forms of human flourishing only for those relieved =
of labor by wealth and the work of subordinates and slaves. The good life r=
equired freedom from necessity, and in his world only a few could have it. =
But in the first book of the </span><em>Politics</em><span> he imagined som=
ething stranger: that if shuttles could weave by themselves and picks could=
 play the lyre, craftsmen would need no subordinates and masters would need=
 no slaves. The </span><a href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/142f1d56-56=
2a-40e1-b917-3604154625ba?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWkl=
Su8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA" rel=3D"" style=3D"color: rgb(54,55,55);text-decoration:=
 underline;">&#8220;self-guided machine&#8221;</a><span> would mean that th=
e material basis for leisure no longer depended on the unfreedom of others.=
 It is one of the oldest thought experiments in Western philosophy, and we =
are now enacting it.</span></p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54=
,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Aristotle did not celebrate the=
 prospect. He understood that freedom from necessity does not automatically=
 yield the pursuits that make such freedom worth having. In his account, th=
ose with wealth and leisure often turned to unlimited acquisition or bodily=
 gratification rather than to the activities that justify leisure in the fi=
rst place.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-heig=
ht: 26px;font-size: 16px;">With AI, we are building something like self-gui=
ded machines. Whether these systems liberate or merely displace is not sett=
led. But the possibility of leisure at scale is real enough to become a ser=
ious question. </p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line=
-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;"><span>If AI can compress parts of instructi=
on, it may deepen learning where it is used and clear ground for formation =
where it gives time back. But only if it </span><a href=3D"https://substack=
=2Ecom/redirect/8b3388d5-75b2-4f1d-917=
1-2220e32bcb88?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.=
h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA" rel=3D"" style=3D"color: rgb(5=
4,55,55);text-decoration: underline;">preserves productive struggle</a><spa=
n> rather than bypassing it. </span></p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;colo=
r: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;"><span>The alternative =
is already visible: </span><a href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/3d6b608=
6-0fec-418f-974d-e8e511139231?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbM=
YWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA" rel=3D"" style=3D"color: rgb(54,55,55);text-decorat=
ion: underline;">autocomplete for life</a><span>. Not just help with expres=
sion, but the slow outsourcing of judgment itself. That is Bildung&#8217;s =
antithesis.</span></p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);l=
ine-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Worse, the same technological society en=
abling leisure is also shaping the desires of the people who receive it. If=
 our dispositions have already been trained toward optimization and outsour=
ced judgment, the freed hours may arrive in hands that no longer know what =
to do with them.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);lin=
e-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">For most of history, the conditions of for=
mation were reserved for the few. The capacity for it was not. If schol&#23=
3; at scale is now possible, refusing to pursue it ratifies a world in whic=
h full human development remains the privilege of those who can afford time=
=2E</p><h3 class=3D"header-anchor-post"=
 style=3D"position: relative;font-fami=
ly: 'SF Pro Display',-apple-system-headline,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMa=
cSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji=
','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight: bold;-webkit-font-smoothi=
ng: antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing: antialiased;-webkit-appearance: op=
timizelegibility;-moz-appearance: optimizelegibility;appearance: optimizele=
gibility;margin: 1em 0 0.625em 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 1.16em;f=
ont-size: 1.375em;"><strong>In the Afterglow</strong></h3><p style=3D"margi=
n: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Bild=
ung is, at its normative core, anti-servility: the effort to form people wh=
o cannot be reduced to instruments of external authority, whether state, ma=
rket, or algorithm.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);=
line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">The people who use AI well right now ar=
e drawing on judgment they formed before these tools became ambient. They k=
now when to trust an LLM&#8217;s output and when to push back because they =
learned to read, argue, and sustain attention under conditions in which tho=
se acts were not so easily outsourced. They bring something the tool cannot=
 supply.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height=
: 26px;font-size: 16px;">Nietzsche thought secular liberals were living off=
 the moral capital of a Christianity they had officially abandoned: inherit=
ed capacities that could persist for a time even after the culture that for=
med them had ceased to renew them. The kind of judgment this essay is defen=
ding may be a similar afterglow, formed in a world before AI mediated every=
thing.</p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: =
26px;font-size: 16px;"><span>Without that judgment, you get </span><a href=
=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/41d63b65-404c-4053-81cc-084d5821fae7?j=3D=
eyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA" rel=3D"" s=
tyle=3D"color: rgb(54,55,55);text-decoration: underline;">agency without au=
tonomy</a><span>.</span></p><p style=3D"margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55=
,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;">If the capacities required for non=
-servile life in an AI world were all formed in a pre-AI world, what happen=
s when that formation stops? You can live on an inheritance for a while. Yo=
u cannot educate a civilization on inherited judgment forever</p><div style=
=3D"font-size: 16px;line-height: 26px;"><hr style=3D"margin: 32px 0;padding=
: 0;height: 1px;background: rgb(0,0,0,.1);border: none;"></div><p style=3D"=
margin: 0 0 20px 0;color: rgb(54,55,55);line-height: 26px;font-size: 16px;"=
><em><a href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/2c56b564-b3af-44e6-97e5-916ed=
f564523?j=3DeyJ1IjoiNXFxeXF4In0.h9dEDbGj64cTNudluPwbMYWklSu8UKGoFv6eWS-HyoA=
" rel=3D"" style=3D"color: rgb(54,55,55);text-decoration: underline;">Cosmo=
s Institute</a><span> is the Academy for Philosopher-Builders, technologist=
s building AI for human flourishing. We run fellowships, fund AI prototypes=
, and host seminars with institutions like Oxford, Aspen Institute, and Lib=
erty Fund.</span></em></p><div class=3D"subscribe-widget is-signed-up" data=
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