 |
Everyone seems to be shitting on school these days.
The whole idea of the general education you get in the typical American highschool seems a bit out dated in this fast paced — succeed now world. If it isn’t applicable on day 1, we call it nonsense and throw it away.
People are saying things like “I remember dissecting a frog and reading Hamlet, but I don’t know how to do my taxes” or something along those lines.
There’s a whole video on it (which I’m not going to link to. Nothing agains the creator(s) though — I’m all for doing your own thing and getting your art / ideas out there.)
Before I defend… I’ll admit it.
There Is REAL Truth In It
Doing your taxes, paying bills, taking care of yourself and earning money are some serious life skills that we need to have as adults if we want to succeed. And when you look at subjects like American history, trigonometry, earth science, biology and classic literature, you can easily see how your time is being wasted in those crucial early years.
How misguided….
You read Hamlet to learn how to communicate like a sophisticated person.
You dissect a frog to learn the basics of biology, which is pretty damn important being a biological being.
You take history to learn about the failures of old that we should avoid, and the accomplishments of the past that we can build on.
You learn algebra and trigonometry to prepare you for the world that requires some basic understanding of math to do anything.
You learn science to understand logic, reason and how to prove something beyond a reasonable doubt so public policy isn’t guided by the same uninformed morons that brought us to the dark ages over 1000 years ago.
Those are the invaluable life skills that set you up for everything you need to be a successful adult. The liberal education that teaches you how to learn what you want AND what you need as you age. The general knowledge that helps give you a baseline to further our place as a species. Hell, most of these topics form the basic tenets of being a civilized human being.
The point of a general education is to prepare you for MORE.
MORE learning later on in life. MORE skills to compound on top of this basic and general knowledge.
I’m not saying there aren’t better ways to teach children… but core subjects are required to keep us civilized.
You can’t just teach app entrepreneurship or single-minded life skills. Entrepreneurship doesn’t work without some core competency top build a business on.
We can’t advance as a society if we all learn specific trades and become pidgin holed into one line of work for the rest of our lives.
It’s true that its necessary for a portion of society. We honestly need plumbers, electricians, carpenters and an innumerable number of valuable trades to stay alive and well — but those are choices to make after you form the basis of knowledge that is required of society.
We Need To Be Raising The Bar
And that’s exactly what happens when you skip out on what I’m coining as “civilized learnings.” You lower the bar. For conversation, for the advancement of our race, for business and for society in general.
As an entrepreneur, your sole purpose is supposed to using your unique skills, passion and drive make the world a better place.
How can you expect to make the world a better place if you don’t understand it?
