Balaji S. Srinivasan Wants to Reclaim Education From the Ideological Capture of Universities. Can He Do It?

The Network School is an online-first school designed to provide continuous learning, fitness, and community, especially for those who don’t have access to traditional elite pathways.

Balaji S. Srinivasan, a 44-year-old American entrepreneur and investor, has launched a new initiative called the Network School, which aims to provide continuous learning, fitness, and community, especially for those who don’t have access to traditional elite pathways.

Described by Srinivasan as a "dark talent" school, it will blend structured and unstructured learning, with students tackling problem-solving tasks that earn them “cryptocredentials” — non-transferable NFTs that serve as proof of their skills.

Every day, students will work on tasks that earn them cryptocredentials, which will form part of a larger “cryptoresume,” a portfolio that verifies expertise across both technology and the humanities.

The school will have a physical campus in Singapore and blends structured and unstructured learning. It's set to open its doors on September 23.

According to Srinivasan, the school will provide continuous learning, fitness, and community, especially for those who don’t have access to traditional elite pathways, like homeschoolers, autodidacts, and those in the Global South.

The initiative, however, has its critics, with some questioning the credibility of "cryptocredentials" and expressing concerns about the lack of accreditation.

One notable figure contributing to the school’s ambitious approach is Bryan Johnson, a 47-year-old tech entrepreneur who will bring his Blueprint fitness and nutrition program into the educational mix.

Best described as a mash-up between Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Michael Jackson, Johnson is known for his extreme pursuit of longevity and vitality.

His role in the Network School, however, seems more like a flashy add-on than a substantive contribution to education.

According to Graham Hillard of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing higher education in the U.S., told Align that while "traditional academia needs to be challenged, we should remain cautious about institutions offering cryptocredentials."

Hillard, who frequently writes on the troubling state of U.S. universities, is absolutely right.

While the traditional system certainly needs to be challenged and “dark talent” should be given the opportunity to flourish, we must carefully analyze the alternatives being offered.

Is the Network School really that different from Andrew Tate’s Hustlers University or Patrick Bet-David’s "university"? I ask this because the similarities are striking, particularly when it comes to the lack of accreditation.

Where will these graduates go once they emerge from the Network School?

Yes, they’ll have “cryptocredentials” and a shiny “cryptoresume,” but will these carry any weight in the real world? Absolutely not.

Try landing a role at Costco, Chevron, Citibank, or the local construction site with a cryptoresume, and there's a good chance that security will either laugh you out of the place or show you the door.

This isn’t to dismiss the Network School’s potential or suggest that it is an outright scam; rather, it’s to highlight that while the school is designed to tackle a genuine problem, its proposed solution raises more questions than it answers.

Align contacted the Network School for comment but did not recieve a response.

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