AI Partnership Boot Camp: Primary Sources

Core Philosophy

Primary sources aren't just content to be learned - they're cognitive laboratories where participants experience and develop different modes of thinking. Our boot camp uses the contrast between naked human cognition and AI-partnered thinking to develop true intellectual partnership skills.

The Dual Purpose Framework

Training Purpose: Participants learn to think with and without AI by engaging with challenging texts that require sustained intellectual effort.

Pedagogical Purpose: Participants experience what deep learning feels like, then understand how to create similar experiences for others.

Method: The Contrast Experience

Naked Engagement

Wrestling with difficult ideas using only human cognition:

  • Experience cognitive struggle and limitation

  • Develop patience with complexity

  • Build intellectual stamina and humility

  • Learn to sit with uncertainty and ambiguity

AI-Partnered Engagement

Re-engaging with the same material as cognitive partners:

  • Experience amplified analysis and insight

  • Learn to direct and evaluate AI contributions

  • Practice maintaining intellectual agency

  • Understand when partnership helps vs. hinders

The Meta-Learning Question

The central question isn't "What does this text mean?" but rather:

"How does engaging with this text - naked and partnered - teach us about thinking itself?"

Participants develop awareness of:

  • Their own cognitive processes

  • The nature of understanding

  • The relationship between struggle and insight

  • The difference between information and wisdom

Selected Primary Sources

All sources are public domain, accessible to high school seniors and college freshmen, and rich enough for sustained analysis.

Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" (Republic, Book VII)

Opening: "And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: Behold! human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads..."

Why this works: Story format about prisoners seeing shadows on wall, then one escapes to sunlight. Perfect for exploring how we know what we know - ideal for naked struggle with big questions, then AI-partnered analysis of philosophical implications.

Benjamin Franklin: "The Way to Wealth" (1758)

Opening: "The way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing will do, and with them everything..."

Why this works: Practical wisdom in clear prose. Students can follow Franklin's reasoning about work, money, and life choices. Good for learning to analyze logical structure naked, then AI-assisted deeper analysis.

Henry David Thoreau: "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" (Walden, 1854)

Opening: "I went to the woods to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived..."

Why this works: Questions about purpose and meaning that resonate with college students. Dense philosophical prose that rewards slow reading and re-reading - perfect for the naked vs. partnered contrast.

Charles Darwin: "On the Origin of Species" Chapter 1 - Variation Under Domestication (1859)

Opening: "When we look to the individuals of the same variety or sub-variety of our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which strikes us, is, that they generally differ much more from each other than do the individuals of any one species or variety in a state of nature..."

Why this works: Darwin methodically building his argument from everyday observations (pigeons, dogs, garden plants). Students can follow his logical progression - how he moves from simple observations to revolutionary conclusions. Perfect for learning scientific reasoning process naked, then AI-assisted analysis of how evidence accumulates into paradigm-shifting theory.

Federalist No. 10 - Madison on Factions (1787)

Opening: "Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice."

Why this works: Madison systematically analyzing political problems that students recognize today. Clear argumentative structure about how democracy can survive its own internal conflicts. Great for naked analysis of political reasoning, then AI-partnered exploration of contemporary applications.

H.G. Wells: "The Time Machine" - The Eloi and Morlock Discovery (1895)

Opening: "I found the Palace of Green Porcelain, when we approached it about noon, deserted and falling into ruin. Only ragged vestiges of glass remained in its windows, and great sheets of the green facing had fallen away from the corroded metallic framework..."

Why this works: Wells revealing his future society's dark secret - the beautiful, childlike Eloi are actually livestock for the underground Morlocks. Students can analyze his social commentary about class division and evolution. Perfect for naked reading of the surface story, then AI-partnered analysis of the deeper political allegory about Victorian society.

Jack London: "The Iron Heel" - Chapter 1 Opening (1908)

Opening: "I cannot but marvel at the stubborn refractoriness of the human mind. Not alone is it stubborn, but it is also perverse. When I think of my father, I am reminded of the Scriptural phrase: 'A little child shall lead them.' He certainly needed leading..."

Why this works: London's narrator explaining how people refuse to see obvious political truths. Explores how power works and why people deny uncomfortable realities. Great for naked struggle with political concepts, then AI-assisted analysis of how this applies to contemporary issues.

Sinclair Lewis: "Main Street" - Chapter 1 Opening (1920)

Opening: "This is America—a town of a few thousand, in a region of wheat and corn and dairies and little groves. The town is, in our tale, called 'Gopher Prairie, Minnesota.' But its Main Street is the continuation of Main Streets everywhere..."

Why this works: Lewis examining American conformity and the pressure to fit in. Students can relate to small-town social dynamics while analyzing deeper questions about individuality vs. community. Perfect for naked reading about social pressure, then AI-partnered exploration of how these dynamics work today.

Selection Criteria for Sources

We choose texts that:

  1. Demand sustained thinking (can't be skimmed or easily summarized)

  2. Reward re-reading (reveal new layers with deeper engagement)

  3. Challenge assumptions (force examination of beliefs and methods)

  4. Model excellent thinking (demonstrate reasoning processes)

  5. Connect to contemporary issues (remain relevant across time)

  6. Are legally accessible (public domain, no copyright restrictions)

The Learning Sequence

For Each Primary Source:

  1. Naked encounter with challenging source

  2. Reflection on thinking process and limitations

  3. AI-partnered analysis of same source

  4. Comparison of naked vs. partnered insights

  5. Pedagogical reflection on what this teaches about thinking/learning

Key Questions Throughout:

  • What did you struggle with in naked mode?

  • How did AI partnership change your analysis?

  • What insights emerged only through the combination?

  • How would you design this experience for others?

  • When should thinking remain naked vs. partnered?

Target Audience

  • Teachers learning AI partnership while experiencing powerful pedagogical methods

  • College students developing critical thinking skills for the AI era

  • High school seniors preparing for college-level intellectual work

The Transformation Promise

Participants don't just learn about AI partnership - they experience the fundamental transformation of human cognition. They feel their own thinking being amplified, while simultaneously developing wisdom about when and how to leverage that amplification.

The primary sources become laboratories for understanding both content and process - how knowledge is created, challenged, and transformed, whether in Plato's time or our own.