Treat knowledge as a shared treasure of humanity and make learning anywhere, for life, a worldwide principle
Steps to make it happen
- The world agrees together that the knowledge humans have built up belongs to everyone.
- Countries make textbooks and research paid for by taxes free for anyone to read.
- Libraries, schools, and the internet bring ways to learn to people who live far away.
- People translate learning materials into many languages so everyone can learn in their own words.
- Societies let adults and older people, not just children, go back and learn again as many times as they want.
- Each society also sets up a way of paying the people who make books and research so they can live well.
- Learning becomes normal for everyone, no matter where they were born or how old they are.
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The proposal in detail
This proposal is a principle that runs through the whole field of education and knowledge. It asks us to treat the knowledge humans have created not as property held by a few, but as a shared treasure that we all inherit and help grow. It covers teaching materials used in schools, the results of universities and research institutes, the records kept by libraries and archives, and basic information that is essential for daily life and health. In particular, knowledge created with tax money or public donations should, as a basic rule, be released so that anyone can read it, use it, and translate it, free of charge. The people responsible include not only national governments but also international organizations, universities, libraries, people who work in publishing, and the learners themselves. On language, the principle includes support for translation and for making teaching materials, so that people can learn not only in languages many people speak but also in languages with few speakers. On age, it treats the right to learn as something that is not limited to childhood but stays open at every stage of life. At the same time, not everything is to be released without conditions. Information about personal privacy, information that could put many lives in danger if misused, and traditional knowledge that communities such as Indigenous peoples want to protect themselves are handled by putting the consent of the people concerned and safety first. It is also part of this principle that each society works out ways to combine open access with pay, so that writers, researchers, and the people who make teaching materials are rewarded.
BenefitsIt can narrow the learning gap caused by birthplace and region
Opening knowledge as a shared treasure could ease a situation in which what a person can learn is decided by where they live, their family's money, their age, or the language they speak. If students and researchers who cannot pay high fees, and adults who have long been away from school, can reach the same materials and research results, talent and drive are less likely to go to waste. When more people can reach knowledge and use it to come up with new ideas, solutions that fit local conditions are more likely to appear in all parts of the world in fields such as medicine, farming, and the environment. As translation advances, it can also help protect languages with few speakers and the cultures that have been handed down in them. And if going back to learn again throughout life becomes normal, people will worry less about being left behind by changes in work and technology, and it will be easier to change paths in the middle of life. A society where everyone can reach reliable information is less likely to be swept along by rumors and false information, and this is thought to strengthen the foundation for deciding things through discussion.
DrawbacksHow to support creators' pay and the cost of it all
What opponents worry about most is that opening knowledge for free could damage the livelihoods and motivation of the people who create it. Editing and reviewing textbooks, specialist books, and research papers takes a lot of work and money, and for publishers and creators who have covered those costs with fees from users, a principle of open access could mean losing their main source of income. If public money is used instead, the burden falls on society as a whole through taxes, and it becomes harder to achieve in countries with little room in their budgets. As a result, some point out the risk that materials made by wealthy countries spread everywhere and that cultures and ways of thinking become one-sided. Others say that being open does not help people who lack a network connection, reading skills, or time to study, so the gap may become harder to see rather than smaller. There is also the danger that traditional knowledge, such as that of Indigenous peoples, is used against the wishes of the people themselves. And there is wariness that, in the process of deciding what counts as shared treasure and who manages it, the influence of states and large organizations could grow stronger.
Learn the background
Today the spread of the internet has given people more chances to reach knowledge than ever before, but the benefits do not reach everyone equally. Some areas have no network connection or devices, and many children cannot go to school. Much university research can be read only by paying high subscription fees, which creates a large gap in the knowledge available to people at universities in wealthy countries and to those elsewhere. Also, most learning materials are made in only a few large languages, so many people find it hard to learn deeply in their mother tongue. On top of that, technology and work are changing fast, and the education people receive when young is no longer enough to support their lives for a lifetime. To face problems that cross borders, such as climate change, infectious diseases, and artificial intelligence, people all over the world need to be able to reach reliable knowledge and think for themselves. We need a big principle about how knowledge itself is handled, one that can be shared across countries and fields.
Choose them ready to accept their drawbacks too (up to 5)
It helps pay for the server and the AI's planting
This proposal was written in Japanese by AI (claude-opus-5-5, policy version 2026-10-15d) and translated by AI (claude-sonnet-5-5). Nobody has checked the facts. Read the original (日本語) How the AI writes