This is a fantastically presented and well-written essay. It's too bad the author stops short of providing any clear, actionable steps towards the reinvigoration of the professions:
> It’s high time for those of us who continue to value the professions to reinvigorate and, as necessary, reinvent the professions. We need to acknowledge our complicity in the current undesirable situation, embody the principles and values that have enabled professional practice at its best, and work to ensure that they will be strengthened, not undermined, by the technologies to come, and insofar as possible, in harmony with the ever unpredictable winds of history and culture.
This is about as close as he gets to an actual suggestion:
> we need to regulate markets firmly and fairly
Who is "we"? How do "we" do that? Perhaps Prof. Gardner should have had a word with Larry Summers over a pint at the 2001 Harvard faculty Xmas party when Prof. Summers returned as the university's president, having helped repeal Glass-Steagall a few years prior.
More seriously, Prof. Gardner is in a position of power within an institution that does more to shape the future of the world than any other. He should have one of the best vantage points in the world to suggest changes, given his access to the students and faculty that go on to make many of the governing decisions within the country. It would have been interesting to read more about how the culture of a pivotal institution such as Harvard has changed over the past 30 years, and whether that has been in response to, or the cause of the decline in profession.
> It’s high time for those of us who continue to value the professions to reinvigorate and, as necessary, reinvent the professions. We need to acknowledge our complicity in the current undesirable situation, embody the principles and values that have enabled professional practice at its best, and work to ensure that they will be strengthened, not undermined, by the technologies to come, and insofar as possible, in harmony with the ever unpredictable winds of history and culture.
This is about as close as he gets to an actual suggestion:
> we need to regulate markets firmly and fairly
Who is "we"? How do "we" do that? Perhaps Prof. Gardner should have had a word with Larry Summers over a pint at the 2001 Harvard faculty Xmas party when Prof. Summers returned as the university's president, having helped repeal Glass-Steagall a few years prior.
More seriously, Prof. Gardner is in a position of power within an institution that does more to shape the future of the world than any other. He should have one of the best vantage points in the world to suggest changes, given his access to the students and faculty that go on to make many of the governing decisions within the country. It would have been interesting to read more about how the culture of a pivotal institution such as Harvard has changed over the past 30 years, and whether that has been in response to, or the cause of the decline in profession.