Outsourcing

At the faculty meeting after school today (sandwiches and cake!) the Head talked about various speakers the school was considering to hire to come speak to us next year.

One choice was a philosopher whose books are about the way thinking is changing this century and the ways education should adapt as a result. He talks about how the new wave of thinking is going to value the accumulation of facts much less than, say, the interpretation of ideas. For example, the research and indexing work that professors' assistants usually do can be done in India by educated clerks for a tenth the cost of an American assistant on campus.

To come talk to the school, he would charge close to $30,000.

Wait a minute. Can't we get someone from India to read his book at us for a tenth that price?