This more than century-old quote from an American philosopher and psychologist William James is still very adequate today.

Do you remember your grandparents often getting frustrated with the world around them? “When we were young, in the good old days, everything was better!”, they claimed. And their parents said it too – the same refrain, in every generation. Adults don’t like change, and that often makes them think and act out of an outgrown believe systems. They feel an attachment to the past because it makes them feel safe.

Most people resist change. They don’t accept, that change is a constant process, happening anytime, anywhere and anyhow — whether they like it or not. And those who wear blinders and avoid change, usually anger those who want to make change happen. Anger, in turn, causes confusion and frustration, resulting in a sense that the world has gone insane. This raises fear about the future and blocks their minds.

This vicious cycle, which already existed in the ancient Greek and Roman cultures, will only be broken, when we start to educate the next generation to be mindful, empathetic, curious, creative, and life-long learners. If we want our children to perceive the world differently, to treat each other better than we do, to be more responsible, and not be afraid of the future, then a major change in our education system is in order. For an openminded paradigm change of our education system, we need people, who do not, in the depth of their minds, believe that everything was better in the past.

Dr. h.c. Philipp Graf von Hardenberg is Founder of the Yaowawit School Kapong in Phang Nga (yaowawit.org), President of the Thanyapura Health and Sports Resort Phuket (thanyapura.com), Chairman of the United World College Thailand (uwcthailand.ac.th) and a member of the International Development Committee of the United World College (uwc.org) movement.