I’m a functional idiot by any measurement. I just realized the highest level of math I’ve used in the past year. Heck, the past 25 years. Well… More on that in a second. But you’ll see. It’s pathetic.
What about other subjects? What have I made use of in life?
What about Shakespeare or Chaucer? Have they done much for me this year?
Or SCIENCE? And can someone tell me the actual reason for World War I? Or what percentage of the population supported the Revolutionary War? I have no idea. I’m going to look it up before I finish this post. Stick with me.
So where did education get me?
My first job interview after college was with Lincoln Laboratories run by MIT. The job description: develop software to determine what objects in space were garbage and what were Soviet missiles.
My entire education led up to a job interview that would let me blow shit up.
Now, having been out in the real world for 23 years I can tell you exactly what you need to know to be “educated”.
And by that I mean: thrive in COMMERCE, in LOVE, in CREATIVITY, and in PEACE. (With “commerce” and “love” I assume you are providing value and help to others and making the world a better place).
Note, this is only what works for me. For you, I have no idea.
You might need Chaucer. Maybe you work in Canterbury, England and you need Chaucer to survive cocktail parties and first dates.
…
I say it because I do it.
Here’s my ideal curriculum for a kid:
- Do one creative thing a week (write, paint, etc). The brain needs the exercise.
- Read one book a week (if you are interested)
- Rip apart whatever the headline is of the Monday morning New York Times and explain why it’s misinformation. (Or pick the Washington Post. Whatever newspaper you want. They are all the same.).
- And then do whatever interests you (via free
courses all over the Internet, coursera is my favorite, History, engineering, whatever interests you only) - Be healthy in all the ways I describe.
I wish I had been taught this way. Now I am busy unschooling myself in this way.
Charlemagne was born April 2, 742. There’s no way I’m going to remember that past one hour from now.
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