“Tomorrow’s illiterate will not be the man who can’t read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn.“
– Future Shock, 1970, by Alvin Toffler

These words, written by the late author and futurist Toffler, were eerily prescient—and they point to a type of intelligence in high demand today: LQ or “learning quotient.”
Lengthening careers contribute to our need for LQ. As Laura Carstensen, the founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, has put it, “In this era of very, very long life, learning is going to have to be continuous.” As it turns out, we have to not only learn new skills, but also unlearn old ways of doing things.

“‘Purpose’ is conflated with lots of other words,” says William Damon, a professor of education at Stanford University and SCL faculty affiliate, “like ‘meaning’ and ‘passion.’” Purpose, however, is something different — it’s broader than a goal, but it’s the guiding motivation that gives your life a sense of direction.

At a recent forum, Stanford education scholars explored conflicts over how and what students are taught in public schools. Mitchell Stevens, sociology professor at GSE, and co-director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, was the lead organizer of the forum.