In modern times in the West the formation of the Anthropocene is closely linked to processes of education and learning, the goal of which is to perfect the individual. This is clear if we look at the history of education in Europe (Wulf, 2022). Comenius expresses this aspiration clearly in his dictum that "Everyone should learn everything in its entirety". Rousseau takes this further. He emphasises the right of each child to find self-fulfilment through education. With industrialisation and the growth of the middle classes the following become particularly important: the access of concrete individuals to universal norms, the rationalisation of ways of life, and the principle of representation. Education contributes to people's selfempowerment, their increased autonomy, and their perfection of themselves. Instrumental reason governs our emotions and demands that we fit into ways of conducting our lives that are increasingly based on economic principles. This development extends to the externalization of emotions and the training of the body. Education plays a role in disciplining people and the planet to make them economically more useful. It promotes people's functionality. New modes of behaviour are acquired. People learn to fit into superior spatial and time plans. Along with the development and prevalence of rational modes of behaviour there is an increase in the division of labour, with wage labour becoming more widespread. Moderation and rationality are becoming what society rewards. As we become increasingly dependent on how society functions as a whole, there is a growing pressure on us to