ABSTRACT
The dangers are aggravated by the widening gap between the frontiers of knowledge and society. The political system encourages to withdraw from the frontiers of knowledge because applying new knowledge would upset the bureaucracy and challenge the interests of some powerful political figures. The application of new knowledge to a policy decision may also produce undesirable side effects, such as with urban renewal, public works, compulsory housing, or health insurance. One of the biggest culprits hindering the optimum utilization of knowledge is the US curriculum, which lacks analytical depth and underutilizes available knowledge. Curriculum builders are preoccupied with teaching minimum understanding for minimum citizenship. To help close the gap between the frontiers of knowledge in the social sciences and the curriculum, the chapter develops the concept of the organic curriculum. In the organic curriculum, the informal system of knowledge plays a very important role.
