Looking for a definition of a concept.

Hi there! I'm not a regular on this sub so I apologize if I'm lost. But I'm trying to pin down some concepts related to education and philosophy.

Most kids, in elementary school (or for many of us, Magic School Bus) learn about molecules as tiny colored balls that stick together. This model isn't so much "wrong" as it is just a high-level, palatable abstraction for the age-group. It's not the best model for understanding what molecules actually are, but if all you're concerned with is how molecules behave in different states, or how they combine to make matter, it's a sufficient metaphor.

As you progress through middle-, high- and then possible post-secondary school, you are taught more and more specific models that apply more accurately in different situations (bohr/lewis, orbitals, quarks. all that jazz).

What's also interesting to me is that, theoretically, a person could drop out of school in grade 6 and live the rest of their lives happily believing molecules are tiny, indivisible, colored balls that make up all matter.

So what I'm wondering is:

1. Is there a name for this concept of progressive, abstraction focused education or is that too general a question?
2. Is there a name for the idea that we only need understand certain details about complex topics to exist comfortably?
3. Is there a name for the state of ignorance to a more complex paradigm (perhaps related to Dunning-Kruger).

Thanks for any help you can give!

Submitted October 22, 2020 at 01:29PM by mattatghlabs https://ift.tt/3kyW8UA