The Key to Learning in the Age of Rapid Growth

I agree with James Webb Young's statement that "Particular bits of knowledge are nothing, because they are made up of [...] rapidly aging facts. Principles and method are everything."  It is the central thesis of DMA, and one that I think should be adopted in more places throughout higher education.  Before the technological revolution, the advancement of knowledge proceeded at a crawl.  Less than that: at an inch worm's pace.  Up until the industrial revolution, and arguably still through much of it, the facts your apprentice's learned would be useful for their great-grandchildren as well.  The specific techniques involved in tailoring shirts, in cobbling shoes, and in the then accepted economic principles of mercantalism and the like, detail knowledge remained relevant for centuries after it's discovery.  What has changed since the dawn of the twentieth century, and especially in the past 60 years, is that our special gain of knowledge has sped up dramatically.  Perhaps the tailor and cobbler example isn't the best here, though it is true that nowadays the sewing machine you grew up on is most certainly not the one your great grandchildren will use.  A better example is found in the faster growing industry of computer technology, where the knowledge you learn in college may actually be relic by the time you graduate.  It is clear that, while the teaching of facts has been successful for many previous centuries, the changes in our society have made this method noneffective.  In order to stay competitive, individuals now need to learn the underlying principles behind their subjects, so that they can adapt as new facts come to light.  Only through this method can we, as effective artists as well as business people as well as human beings, hope to survive the many revolutions that will no doubt take place in our respective fields in the next eighty years.