The basic premise of the book, "Demographic Factors in Adult and Continuing Education," (on which this keynote address is based) is that adult and continuing education are irrelevant, immaterial, and inconsequential unless grounded in social reality. The book identifies more than 1 million demographic factors in the 8 Mountain Plains States. This document distills some basic "lessons" from the book: (1) the culture of the states must be viewed in holistic terms; (2) the progress of technology has brought about far-reaching cultural changes, not the least of which is urbanization; (3) broad education is the only cure for racial antipathies; (4) the question is whether one will be content with one's philosophy of what progress is or identify, study, and try to improve it; (5) grades and diplomas are not adequate indicators of proficiency in basic skills; (6) the greatest threat to the future is indifference; and (7) freedom begins where economic necessity ends. Implications of these lessons for teachers, administrators, and policymakers are as follows: the goal of adult and continuing education is social self-realization; a theory of adult learning called the theory of instrumentalism must be developed; a holistic curriculum is conducive to this kind of learning; inherent to the holistic curriculum is a process of teaching as opposed to training; and criteria of maturity rather than academic dogma should be used to assess adult student progress. (YLB)