A lot of resources and effort are being poured into ‘transitional skills’ with little attention being paid to explaining why humans are struggling with transitions in general and why humans are undergoing unprecedented behavioural changes. Examination and understanding of digital networked technologies and the resulting digital environment do indeed provide some explanations. It is therefore important to look at the particularities of different environments in order to understand friction, compatibilities, opportunities and pitfalls.

Observations of St Andrews’ College displays clear indicators of being highly compatible with the Digital Age. That is to say St Andrews’ College operates at a system level, which is more in line with the Digital Age than with the hierarchal Industrial Age. College also adheres to the idea of the ‘three component principle’ that I found to be essential in my research into digital engagement and complex systems. Finally, I see uncoordinated and undirected ‘flashes’ of second-order cybernetic processes, which I found to be an essential component for harnessing technology to the individual or the systems advantageously.

In other words, I see St Andrews’ College currently and historically displaying essential components for thriving in the digital age. This may well be the reason why St Andrews’ has always been perceived as being somewhat different.  The digital age has placed the College in an extremely strong position.