Experience vs. School

Somewhere in time in this great big world, humans stopped thinking for themselves and started letting the 'experts' think for them. In the past century, a lot of money and time have been given to these ''experts'', some of whom we call scientists and psychologists, to write books and advise governments on what human brains are capable of learning and at what age. The agenda? Well, there is this misperception that intelligence is linked to social status. That poor kids are less intelligent than rich kids. Fair enough we associate fancy house and fancy things to fill the fancy house as equaling 'wealth', but why we choose to associate it even further with equaling 'happiness' and also 'intelligence' is beyond me. Many people who live in poverty, based on our own judgement of what being poor means, are quite happy people, and also extremely intelligent people. Their lifestyle simply does not warrant the need for fancy things or to use their intelligence to build things like rocketships or software applications.

Government agenda's want to produce a measurable intelligent society to reflect a rich nation with people who do productive things that keep up with a technologically advancing civilization. (and then hand over half their wealth in the guise of 'taxes' but that's another topic). This results today in many parents now pushing their children to be better than 'average' standards, because average education is now something Government ensures for the poor (e.g., No Child Left Behind), thus, in order to achieve a higher status than that, you must be a higher academic achiever.

It's common knowledge today, thanks to above mentioned experts, that we are wired to learn from birth. I have no problem accepting that. I can read the facts, the footnotes, and see real life examples and make my own assessment with the same results. The mistake us humans (or our governments) made is to let these same experts above decide What the milestone achievements should be with this new knowledge about our human brains. These experts, when asked to advise, should have just gone on a nice long holiday, leaving us to think and ponder a bit more for the answer. But, instead, the scientists and psychologists quickly turned to the Educators, their professor colleagues at universities, to advise. The answer was to get humans to 'read earlier, write earlier, perform arithmetic earlier' so they could 'advance to higher skills earlier'. The result? and we all know the answer here: little humans are now pressured in school to meet these pragmatic end results. Parents who want high-achiever status children do not rely on school alone anymore. Billions are spent on tutoring services, and educational supplements. Even some parents who home educate put the same pressures on their little humans, only at home versus a school environment. Kindergarten simply isn't fun anymore.

This is where I decided to take the nice long holiday instead. Because I just so happen to be one of those people who missed the boat called ''Go straight from secondary school to university then straight to a well-paid job, save your money and THEN when you retire you can go see the world'. Or better yet, I was put on that boat, but I jumped ship. I didn't 'really' go to secondary school. I learned how to forge my Mum's signature and then skipped the majority of classes. I did college for one year before dropping. I then had numerous years of travelling, exploring, experiences. I even travelled around America for two years with just a backpack, some common sense, and a lot of great philosophy books to read. I snuck into college lectures that seemed interesting without having to write a paper about it afterwards, but I would certainly look to debate the topic with friends and family. Winining a debate was just as satisfying as getting a good grade! And guess what? At age 27, after all my trials and tribulations, and self teaching and debating, I landed a well-paying job. I now have the higher-than-average salary working from home for the past 13 years, and I've started my own business.

Humans are no longer given time and space to tinker in workshops anymore or to simply travel and explore the world. Hobbies and creative interests are only encouraged after you are a retired senior citizen. Adventures, other than the yearly summer holiday, now take the guise of pampered cruises and resorts targeting these seniors. These retired citizens, who spent their lives in school, then office cubicles, do not have adventurous spirits anymore. They need shrink-wrapped ''safe'' environments to holiday in. And what sort of universal enlightenments do these shrink-wrapped adventures give these senior citizens? What wisdom do they obtain and then share with us? Nothing, absolutely nothing. However, a few smart ones from long ago left us some words of wisdom (to quote but a few) before departing this world:

''When I began my life as a poet, the writers in our educated community however took their inspiration from English literature. I suppose it was fortunate for me that I never in my life had what is called an education, that is to say, the kind of school and college training which is considered proper for a boy of respectable family. Though I cannot say I was altogether free from the influence that ruled the young minds of those days, the course of my writings was nevertheless saved from the groove of imitative form'' - Rabinidranath Tagore: 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature

''It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty'' - Albert Einstein: 1921 Nobel Prize in physics

''and there is, on the whole, nothing on earth intended for innocent people so horrible as a school. To begin with, it is a prison. But it is in some respects more cruel than a prison. In a prison, for instance, you are not forced to read books written by the warders (who of course would not be warders and governors if they could write readable books), and beaten or otherwise tormented if you cannot remember their utterly unmemorable contents. In the prison you are not forced to sit listening to the turnkeys discoursing without charm or interest on subjects that they don't nderstand and don't care about, and are therefore incapable of making you understand or care about. In a prison they may torture your body; but they do not torture your brains; and they protect you against violence and outrage from your fellow-prisoners. In a school you have none of these advantages. With the world's bookshelves loaded with
fascinating and inspired books, the very manna sent down from Heaven to feed your souls, you are forced to read a hideous imposture called a school book, written by a man who cannot write: A book from which no human can learn anything: a book which, though you may decipher it, you cannot in any fruitful sense read, though the enforced attempt will make you loathe the sight of a book all the rest of your life'' George Bernard Shaw: 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature

My father-in-law was a retired bank manager who died from alzheimer's before getting to spend his pension on advenures, and his widow, my mum-in-law, just sits at home wishing she had someone to go on 'trips' with. She doesn't dare go alone. They went on many 'holidays' over the years before my father-in-law met his demise, but I always sense that feeling of regret to not have seen and done more. I suppose this is no better off than someone who is poor and cannot travel. My husband had a reserved job at the same bank as his Father, when he passed his 'O' levels (or in other terms, 'graduated'), but he passed up this so-called 'opportunity' to form a rock-n-roll band that travelled around the world for ten years, produced several albums and obtained a following of fans who still remain loyal 15 years after the bands demise. I enjoy listening to my husbands music, and stories of his amazing experiences and adventures during this time, and I'm even more thrilled that our children will be influenced by their Dad's choices in life, as well as my own. The key word here is 'choice'. We do not pressure our children towards any 'make a good living' agenda's. We truly hope they go off and see more of the world like we did when we were young.

My husband and I have not stopped 'seeing the world' either. While the systematic school system, and their experts who advise them, struggle to keep up with govenment agenda's, we'll be kicking back at home with our children enjoying our freedom from this pre-progammed rat-race, or exploring holiday destinations outside of the touristy season when there are less crowds. We'll also be straying from the beaten path because us and our children are not afraid to. At their age the world is magical and they are not afraid to explore. The more you're exposed to the real world the less afraid you are of it. If you are stuck in sterile classrooms safe from the outside world and its trials and tribulations, you'll be that more afraid of it when you're finally set free to roam it. No wonder humans go from box (school) to box (college) to box (office job) to more boxes (home, shopping malls, leisure centres, etc.). What a boring life I find that to be.

The interesting thing is that studies are now showing that children who are left to their own devices, and allowed simply to play and imagine with no academic pressure during the first seven+ years of their lives, turn out to be more highly advanced intellectually in reasoning and theory, and at a much younger age are able to study higher academics in a shorter time period to pass exams with a much higher score. (16 year olds and younger commonly entering college after a childhood of just playing and exploring!). Imagine that! You're allowed to enjoy your childhood free from academic pressures and tests, then later in life you're more easily able to quickly ace exams with less studying! I didn't do well in school, but it obviously doesn't take a good education to know the benefits of this 'non schooling' lifestyle.

I end this with a conflicting statement that I'm thrilled our teenage son is entering university this September. He will be attending a college whilst living at a 4 year residential school for young adults with Aspergers. Why am I thrilled? Well, because he is thrilled! Our son has 'unschooled' or 'autonomous learned' for the past 7 years, and has always been given the choices to make for himself and he has chosen this path. He's chosen to take advantage of this Asperger school that had a placement, because he's smart enough to know it's a great opportunity. (I think the 'Adventure' weekends they promise are what also entice him!). Our son deep dives Electronics, and his reason to want to attend the college to study electronics is because he knows they will have laboratory equipment he only dreams of, and he'll be around like-minded students he can collaborate. He's less interested in a 'degree' or a 'high paying job' as the end result. I don't want my above thoughts to suggest that children should NEVER go to school. It can be used as a tool no differently than anything in life. It's the pressure and the reason children are forced to go to school that I object to, and the fact that they start now with such pressures so early.