A dark side of modernization parallels the numerous and obvious positive social impacts. Current social, political, economic, and ecological plights have been viewed as manifestations of a broader cultural crisis caused by adherence to a "reductionist" approach to reality. Reality, indeed, can only be understood in terms of process and dynamic relations among the parts. Some businesses apply these "holistic" notions in business communication and management and provide illustrations of cooperation through interpersonal communication. The public educational system is not geared to the reality of this paradigm shift. Education does not permit learning about interpersonal questions and those life subjects that are the dominating themes of media. The resultant uncertainty increases the stress on individuals existing in a stressful environment. Traditional educational systems teach individuals to avoid the emotional encounters and survival connections of life that do need most to be examined. By neglecting to provide a living relevant education to children, the educational system causes boredom and distaste for further scholarship. (Attachments, amounting to over one-half of the paper, are various pieces on education, selected poems, and questions and answers.) (YLB)