What person thinks person knows

In Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, Consuelo “Connie” Ramos is living in a mental institution in the twentieth century when she’s visited by a person from the future. That person, Luciente, teaches her how she can leave her body where it is but travel in mind and spirit to the year 2137. She is at first unimpressed by what she sees: people living in small huts, tending vegetable gardens. It reminds her of the poor village she grew up in in Mexico. But Luciente shows her how they live comfortably and in harmony with their environment, how they use technology but without letting it use them, how they learn and teach each other. Connie wanders the town with Luciente and one of her partners, Jackrabbit. Noticing a group of children working in the gardens, she asks why they aren’t in school. “That is school,” Luciente replies, drawing closer so that Connie can watch and listen for awhile. An old man is showing the children the shape of the leaves on the pea flower, explaining how…