horrors of education

"It used to be that the whole purpose of education was to give students a working knowledge of how the world works. We have since opted for "educating the whole child"meaning that we teach people nothing. Unless you have an atypical modern education, you'll have no choice but to teach yourself."

this quotation is from an article about how to create plausible worlds in science fiction books. written in '84, more than 20 years ago. at that time, modern education had already started dictating that learning was not something forced but something that people do on their own by experiencing things.

modern education focuses on asking questions that start with "how" and "explain" instead of "who" and "when". that means that the emphasis is based on cause and effect rather than hard facts. anyone with a history book can quote dates of wars, but only smart students can understand their effects and apply that understanding to modern situations. i finished school around 8 years ago and i can still explain most of the physical and chemical issues we faced then, but i can't remember the names of scientists or the dates of discoveries to save my life.

i was very fortunate to attend a school which focused on these modern approaches. the rest of the country, however, is still stuck in the spoon-feeding method of teaching, or as the quotation names it, atypical modern education. that is, "dear students, the earth is flat, the stars are shy gods and i'm a less shy god". i've had MANY fights with teachers in my old school in which they would not even entertain the idea that they might be mistaken (i still remember them clearly, the idiots) and that i might be correct. of course i was correct, i was blessed with the ability to think critically.

but aside from my petty fights, the horrible status of our country (indeed, our nation) is not because we watch tv's and have cell phones and enjoy going out and like to ogle hot girls like our sheikhs would like to think, but it is because we lack the ability to think critically. from school, where information is forced down our throats, to university, where being active means voting and being a member of the student council without having any real influence, to real life where if you disagree with the status quo you are an enemy of the state. this isn't a political article, but it is a critical one: the status quo is that we live our lives as sheep, with no chance to think on our own. i'm not saying we should start a revolution. i'm saying that if things were done correctly we won't need a revolution. we need to start embracing the "learn for your own approach", where one is put into a real "learning" environment, not a mimicking one.

so yes, education in our world is rather horrific, and the only chance we get to think is to think of what to have for lunch.