Perception of Economic Reality - a National Security Requirement for Education in the Information Age

In this article, we consider a specific aspect of the ability of a state to protect its essential values: the capacity of its intellectual elite to objectively perceive current economic realities and their potential consequences. We approach this problem phenomenologically, referring to situations characterised by the lack of a theoretical basis, in which highly qualified individuals participated without awareness of their consequences for the stability and essential values of the state. We view these situations from the standpoint of the prevailing educational system which produced the personnel involved in such operations, and within the context of the need of a political community to maintain the capacity to perceive challenges to its essential values. The results indicate the opportunism of highly educated professionals with respect to theoretical knowledge and the consequent inadequacies in dealing with complex variables which generate challenges for national security. We conclude that in the information age, which is characterised by complexity, speed and large quantities of available information, decision-making related to national security requires more creative thinking, and this entails a need for higher education to focus not merely on problem-solving, but also on the development of cognitive capacity and prudence.