What they never taught us
 

What they never taught us

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” Voltaire (1694-1778)

We learned in school and college that the teacher furnishes the question and the answer that will fit the question. If we want to continue to learn after our schooling is over what must we do?

Bootstrap is defined as: designed to function independently of outside direction—capable of using one internal function or process to control another.

For a 12 to 18 years period from the age of 6 to our mid twenties we have lived constantly in an educational system wherein we seldom if ever learned to function intellectually independent of outside direction.

How is it possible for such an individual to develop the internal processes (bootstrap) that allow him or her to become an independent, critically self-conscious, thinker?

When schooling is over the citizen who wishes to reach beyond naive common sense reality must develop the ability to generate questions. Questions result from a critical self-conscious intellect and depend upon the priorities of that intellect. Formal education has always furnished the learner with a question for consideration. The question asked determines the knowledge achieved and the understanding created.

The self-actuated learner must develop the ability to create questions. We have never before given any thought to questions; but now, if we wish to take a journey of discover, we must learn the most important aspect of any educational process. We must create questions that will guide our travels. After our school daze are over we can no longer depend upon education by coercion to guide us; we have the opportunity to develop self-actualizing self-learning driven by the ‘ecstasy of understanding’.

Re: What they never taught us
 

Free market education ftw. Down with socialism.



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After our school daze are over

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Unintentionally funny.

Re: What they never taught us
 

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What they never taught us

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You use the word "us" very loosely, Colberst! That you were never taught anything else, I readily accept! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: What they never taught us
 

If people can't manage to function independently just because they are in normal schools in our current society, then I blame them. And if they can't manage to take control of their own education, then I blame them too. Someone has to stop making these cushions that people can blame everything on.

Seriously, when people start arguing for spoonfeeding people with independence, then I start looking up ironic in the dictionary.

Re: What they never taught us
 

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And if they can't manage to take control of their own education, then I blame them too

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Spoken like a true statist.

Re: What they never taught us
 

I'd assume that principle is fairly golden in your voluntarist land, so I don't get your comment.

Re: What they never taught us
 

as others have implied, it is possible to consider what you have been taught and draw your own conclusions, even at a young age. a free-thinking 4th grader can be the cause of great annoyance for some teachers, but others embrace the quality. as you've suggested, the learning potential of a such a child is much higher than otherwise. (even if the child is often "wrong")

but it's true that the influence of "schooling" on all people is tremendous - especially when they are children. many things that get pounded into kids in school are wrong or misguided. for instance, the idea that all kids should go to college (or that anyone worth anything should go) is pretty destructive, in my opinion. same could be said about the focus on "getting a good job" rather than "creating value" on your own. school tends to teach dependence, it's true.

Re: What they never taught us
 

Yah I hate the school system, and in retrospect am VERY happy I spent so much time reading fiction while the teacher yammered on and skipping class and challenging all the drivel they told us. Having kids sit behind a desk for 8 hours in a day while all independent thought and creativity are beaten out of them in a souless, mind numbing sort of way is good if you need worker and soldier drones, but not so good in the modern economy in my view.

Re: What they never taught us
 

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And if they can't manage to take control of their own education, then I blame them too.

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1. Create a monopoly
2. Outlaw competition
3. Teach the opposite of education (obedience instead of thought)
4. People have their souls crushed during their most creative years
5. Blaim the victim for this result and in a sadistic fashion tell them that they should be more self-reliant and take control of their own education, even though the monopoly is gun-toting socialism which will throw children in jail if they don't show up.
6. Be smug about it
7. ???
8. Put on ignore by Nielsio

Re: What they never taught us
 

Ignoring is certainly one way of gaining independence, though a fairly naive one.