eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.05.09
The Road to D, or the Cowa Story (5): The Construction of the “Yasuura Commons” and the Significance of ‘Home Economics’ for SHS
1. The ultimate goal of “Cowa” is the construction of “D.” To that end, each organization comprising “Cowa” aims to construct itself as “A” (a prototype, model, or microcosm of “D”). Of course, this includes SHS. However, in SHS’s case, in addition to this, there is a special mission towards achieving the ultimate goal. That mission is to make Yasuura “A,” centered around the SHS’ Yasuura campus. We will call Yasuura as “A” the “Yasuura Commons.” At SHS, all members, from students to facilitators, will work to build Yasuura as the “Yasuura Commons = A” with the Yasuura campus as its base. This is the starting point (fundamental basis) of all learning at SHS. 2. If the aim is to make Yasuura “A = Yasuura Commons,” one would normally think that the first step would be to understand the theory of modes of exchange created by Kojin Karatani, the honorary head of the Cowa academy. However, SHS, which considers Seymour Papert’s constructionism to be the essence of co-learning, will first start by physically working to create the “Yasuura Commons.” Through this action, they will come to understand “A,” and even the theory of modes of exchange itself. This is inquiry-based learning in the true sense of the word, and engaging in it is “becoming a vagabond.” 3. However, it is impossible to construct “A” without knowing anything about it, right? This is where the home economics textbook from Tokyo Shoseki comes in handy. SHS uses “Home Economics Basics” (Katei Kiso). Of course, “Home Economics Basics” is not a “textbook for ‘A’.” It is reasonable to consider it a text intended to build individuals, families, and societies that conform to “Mode of Exchange B” or “Mode of Exchange C.” However, Jacques Derrida’s “deconstruction” taught that there are always “surpluses” or “margins” in a text. Derrida is a Karatani’s “battle buddy”. For more information on “surpluses” and “margins” in “deconstruction,” please see here: g.co/gemini/share/c In “A Secret History: Tosaka Jun and the Kyoto Schools,” my last academic paper, I named the kind of “deconstruction” that makes “A” manifest towards the construction of “D” as “remix” (or, “deconstruction of justice”). SHS facilitators will “remix” “Home Economics Basics” to make this “textbook for B or C” a “guideline” for building the “Yasuura Commons = A.” 4. When using “Home Economics Basics,” a total of four schooling sessions will be held. Assignments (report writing and artwork production) will be given for each schooling session. Students will submit reports and artwork by the deadline, and facilitators will correct and provide brief comments on them. The schedule for the required subject “Home Economics Basics” at SHS is as follows: (The 1t Schooling Session) The Road to “Me as a Vagabond” “Chapter 1: Looking Ahead in Life” “Chapter 2: Creating a Life” “Chapter 3: Growing Up with Children” “Chapter 4: Living Together in a Super-Aging Society” “Chapter 5: Living Together, Supporting Each Other” “Chapter 9: Managing Economic Life” “Chapter 10: Living Sustainably” Excerpts from Takashi Maeno and Madoka Maeno, “Well-being” “Chapter 11: Creating Future Lifestyles” (The 2nd Schooling Session) Construction of “Me as a Vagabond” (1): Clothing “Chapter 6: Creating Dietary Habits” (The 3rd Schooling Session) Construction of “Me as a Vagabond” (2): Food “Chapter 7: Creating Clothing Habits” (The 4th Schooling Session) Construction of “Me as a Vagabond” (3): Housing “Chapter 8: Creating Housing Habits” This schooling schedule itself constitutes the structure of the required subject “Home Economics Basics.” In the first schooling session, “The Road to ‘Me as a Vagabond’,” students will understand in what sense this structure and content of home economics class will serve as a “guideline” for building the “Yasuura Commons = ‘A’.” There, they will first learn that the intersection of what they can get into “flow” (what they like and are good at), and the 169 targets of the SDGs (Home Economics Basics, inside cover 2 and p. 202) leads to the well-being (physical, mental, and social well-being) of themselves and those around them throughout their lives (excerpt from Well-being). If you can make “what you like (flow)” your work, you can achieve a “mentally good state,” which leads to a “physically good state.” So, how does aiming for the intersection of “flow” and the SDGs lead to a “socially good state”? The answer lies in ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) investing. (Home Economics Basics, p.199, 204) Simply put, as AI eliminates many jobs, money will preferentially flow into SDGs-related industries, which will grow while utilizing AI. The reasons behind this and the fact that this is not necessarily all good will be learned at “Cowa University” (tentative name), which will be established within a few years. In any case, while keeping these “underlying circumstances” in the back of their minds, SHS students will strive to become “vagabond/Ryoma” who aim to build “D,” which is a “society/world where the SDGs are achieved,” through jobs located at the intersection of their “flow” and the SDGs. For the well-being of themselves, their families, and those around them. 5. In what sense does the content up to this point regarding the first schooling session of “Home Economics Basics” serve as a “guideline” for building the “Yasuura Commons = ‘A'”? In the first schooling session, students will first learn that contributing to the construction of “D = the world where the SDGs are achieved = a well-being society = Society 5.0” through work at the intersection of their “flow” and “global issues (SDGs)” leads to the well-being of themselves and those around them through ESG investing. Therefore, the first step is to learn the 169 targets of the SDGs (global issues). However, simply memorizing them would be no different from most of the education that has been conducted in Japan so far. SHS, which takes a constructionist stance, will first “throw away the books and go out into the town” (the word by Shuji Terayama), discover the issues facing Yasuura, and learn “why the issue of ○○ in Yasuura is a ‘global issue'” through actions that utilize “computational thinking” to solve them. For more information on “computational thinking,” which, along with “flow,” is a fundamental basis of learning at SHS that must be acquired while enrolled, please see here: g.co/gemini/share/7 The essential readings for the first schooling session, “Chapter 3: Growing Up with Children,” “Chapter 4: Living Together in a Super-Aging Society,” “Chapter 5: Living Together, Supporting Each Other,” “Chapter 9: Managing Economic Life,” and “Chapter 10: Living Sustainably,” directly correspond to the SDGs (global issues). And all the issues presented there will be found in Yasuura. The starting point of learning at SHS is the action of solving these issues using IT, including AI. If it is physically difficult for all students to go to Yasuura and discover issues, one approach might be for the responsible facilitator to first list the issues and use that as a starting point. (To be continued)
