free universities

so many of us have been concerned about what the coming years will bring, focusing on the potential disruption/destruction/end-of-life-as-we-know-it-ness of it all. while undoubtedly there will be many profound and likely disturbing changes, there will also be wonderful new things coming up that we cannot now imagine. change and transformation can also be a positive experience.

one of these changes is already on the horizon and continues the amazing democratization of information that the internet provides. now, in addition to wikipedia, (which you know is my new drug) we have greatly expanded accessibility to university courses on-line. Yale, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and many many other private and public institutions are offering complete materials and a full experience of their courses with video, transcripts, notes, readings and reading lists, and study sheets for a wide variety of subjects. now, you can listen to a lecture or take a semester-long course from your laptop. check out some of these links; they may restore your sense of balance about the impending future:

MIT
Yale
Johns Hopkins