βAt present the greatest danger to the educational efforts is television. Education just cannot go on if you let the television do what it likes. It is impossible for education to work up against television unless television recognizes that it also has an educational task which overrules our mere entertainment. Otherwise we cannot have education. From the democratic point of view television must be controlled, just because its potential political power is almost unlimited. If you get hold of television, you can do whatever you like. And such a power must be controlled. My proposal is to look at the problem of controlling television as a task similar to that of control of medical people. Medical people have to be controlled too, and they do it very largely themselves. For example they have to have a certain education. The same applies to the system of control of lawyers, who have their own organization which controls them. Thanks to these systems of control the lawyers do not steal the money from their clients and doctors do not kill their patients. And you have to organize all people who work for the television in some kind of organization. They would have to become members of such an organization on the basis of some education, after passing appropriate examinations testing their awareness of the educational tasks, and their responsibility. They would have to learn that their influence is very great and that their responsibility is equally great. It is responsibility for our civilization. Their first aim would be the fight against violence. And on these principles, if some people are found to be irresponsible, their license could be withdrawn. Without such a system of regulation we are running into chaos, violence and crime. The increasing wave of crime is very largely due to television.β
β Adam Chmielewski: The Future is Open. A Conversation with Sir Karl Popper. Set her.
"The conversation took place on July 29, 1994, the day after Sir Karl's 92nd birthay, at his home in Kenley, Surrey. Sir Karl died September 17, 1994, six weeks after the meeting. This is the last interview he gave."