How the Lawyers Killed Practical Adult Education

18 days ago

Mid-century industrial films effectively taught practical skills, unlike today's infantilized or compliance-focused training.
Legal shifts, especially in product liability laws, have made truthful instruction risky, turning manuals and training into legal exhibits.
The expansion of liability to include 'failure to warn' has led to excessive, unhelpful warnings that prioritize legal defensibility over education.
Companies now design products and training to minimize legal exposure, often at the cost of user competence and repair literacy.
Modern manuals and training avoid specificity to prevent legal liability, resulting in vague, non-instructive content.
The legal system's focus on liability has eroded practical adult education, replacing skill transfer with compliance and credentialing.
Regulatory bodies like OSHA and CPSC are often blamed, but litigation is the primary driver of the decline in practical education.
The societal impact includes decreased repair literacy, deskilled trades, and a reliance on 'black box' systems serviced by specialists.
The legal environment incentivizes opacity and discourages the transfer of practical knowledge, leading to passive consumers and compliant workers.
The result is a culture where practical knowledge is suppressed, and absurdly obvious warnings become necessary to avoid liability.

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