Do It Yourself: Autodidactism as an Alternative for Building Social Capacities

Abstract

Autodidactism has played an important role throughout history as an act of self-teaching, as a way of satisfying our curiosity about a specific topic and as a part of public policy. This article argues that the act of learning, in itself, is an activity comparable to design, in that it puts into practice cognitive and metacognitive structures and activities (as documented over the years) that are also involved in the design process. Likewise, the democratizing effect of autodidactism on the individual is discussed from an emotional perspective, as is its potential to create the social capital and human capacities needed to conserve our environment and welfare.