The Pieces Fit

This post was adapted from something that I had previously written.

When you are right about something, things seem to fall into place. I feel that I have reached that level when it comes to my educational beliefs. The more that I think about the topic, the more confident I become. I’m sure that there are some things that I have not yet explained or have explained poorly on my blog, but none of my thoughts have failed to fit my educational beliefs.

Without tying the schools to the mental level of the general public, I started questioning the mental capabilities of modern man. We can look at the effects of advertising. We are in a situation where people have to be told what products that they want to buy. We can look at television ratings. The primary reason that people watch the Super Bowl is because other people watch the Super Bowl. We rely others to tell us what we want to do, what we think, and what our opinions are. I am fully convinced that our reliance on the schools, which I view as mentally harmful, corresponds with the development of the most mindless era in history. Even those who defend the schools have been known to criticize the general public for becoming dumber. They view schooling as the solution, but it never occurs to them to question the schools’ impact on intelligence.

I know that I’m not perfect. I used to insist that the schools do nothing to prepare people for the real world. When I realized that the real world has become reliant on mindless drones, I changed my mind. Even this change seemed to validate my educational beliefs. There have been times that I have said that I want a job that does not interfere with my right to think. Whenever people start to understand this demand, they insist that I am asking for too much. This backs my argument that society is getting dumber.

Among my beliefs that others have questioned is the idea that schooling is anti-educational. When I tried to learn how to think for myself, I watched my grades plummet. While most of my examples of getting into trouble for learning in class could be viewed as abstract, I do have a better example. One day I was playing with programming features of my calculator in a computer class. My teacher confiscated my calculator so that I would focus on an out-of-date computer program instead. It seems probable that others have also had problems with their teachers because they choose to learn when they are expected to do schoolwork of questionable value. I remember reading an article on a website about Microsoft’s XNA tools. One person commented that he wanted to learn XNA but had too much schoolwork.

Most indications have been that the schools are well meaning but misguided. The idea that an educational concept could turn out so anti-educational, however, seemed like enough to question their intents. Eventually, I found a quote online from William Torrey Harris, who was among those who shaped the American schooling system. He insisted that the schools “have been scientifically designed to prevent over-education from happening.”

In addition to anti-educational values, there are also strong pro-government values. Elementary school students are expected to pledge their allegiance daily. They are essentially being forced to swear to support their country no matter how messed up it becomes. In recent years, it has become evident that this is not required of school children. Students, however, are never informed that they have an option. Additionally, Americans who study its history for the love of the nation write most American history books. A frequent source of their information is from other pro-American history writers. This is not a neutral source, and we are effectively rewriting history. Each generation of textbooks becomes less reliable and skewed more favorably towards the country.

Much like my concerns with anti-educational values, history has justified my concerns regarding pro-government values. Most sources that I have encountered insist that our system is based off of a Prussian model. Among the purposes of the Prussian model was to develop obedience to the government.

Another issue I have with our mind-numbing schools is that the development of new ideas requires thought. How has our increased reliance on the schools affected progress? We have become regressive. Quality of life has become an afterthought, and advancements are not sufficient to offset the lower quality of life. All of our progress today was set into motion decades ago, and most of this progress has failed to do anything more than increase numbers. We no longer have innovators such as Thomas Edison to actually push humanity forward. Part of the reason is that Edison struggled in school and only lasted months. We now discriminate against people like him and refuse to let them contribute to society.

More recently, we saw the rise of the software industry. While many of the people involved in the early years survived high school, college dropouts shaped the industry. Before the colleges took over training, the industry progressed fairly rapidly. Now, degrees are required to enter. Innovation has practically disappeared. The industry is rehashing old programs and true progress has come to a halt.

Among my biggest examples of pieces fitting together was the piece that I actually looked for. I feel that most of my beliefs could be viewed as common sense. While it is difficult to convince the mindless masses to question the value of a process that we deceptively associate with intellect, it is highly unlikely that 100% of the population takes education for granted. It is impossible for individuals with their own beliefs to have beliefs that match perfectly, but someone had to be close to my views. It appears as though Albert Einstein came close. As for more modern times, I have found information regarding the unschooling movement. I am certainly not the only one who wants to dismantle the schools.

On the other side of things, those who defend the schools seem to rely on assumptions and oversights. There are many people saying that people are dumber than ever before and that more schooling is the solution. With the ever increasing investment in schooling, the schools have never been more influential. If the schools are the solution, we should not have seen the decline in intellect.

A similar belief is that parents are doing a worse job than ever before in terms of raising children. These parents have more schooling than they did in the past. I guess these people feel that the decline of parents coinciding with increase in schooling is a coincidence. Regardless, we are already reliant on the schools. If they could fix the problems with bad parents, they likely would have succeeded by now.

Another argument that I have heard about is that the schools keep people out of jail. They hear stories about dropouts having more problems than graduates. While there may be a connection between conforming to the demand of the schools and conforming to the demands of the law, we need to look at the bigger picture. By the logic that these people provide, our increasing graduation rate (especially in comparison with the days before compulsory schooling) should have coincided with a drastic drop in the crime rate. I can honestly say that our over-reliance on the schools does not make me feel any safer.

Most of my educational beliefs were developed while the schools were preventing me from receiving a healthy education. I still develop new ideas from time to time, but I would not say that my focus on education is at its strongest. I am, however, becoming a little more vocal. My confidence has grown as the few remaining gaps are closed. I have seen nothing to make me question my views. I have seen a ton of evidence that the mainstream should question its views. I hope that the future is more intelligent. I hope that the future is willing to see that I have valid points. I hope that the future is willing to stop assuming that the schools represent all that is right in the world.