The curse of modern education: 6 ways you are trained to be unsuccessful
The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.
~ Albert Einstein
Education has always been a way of life for a few chosen throughout history: for these who influence the economy or the politics of the country. Many inventors and scientists, authors were lords, sons of lords or sons of rich people.
In this age education becomes a way of life for all. One has to begin its journey in schools since the age of three. They learn way of life through designed curriculum for up to 18 years.
Education is good. But modern education has some weakness.
1-It teaches you 9-5
9-5 Is a good training for the job world in the capitalist society. A person who is trained for 20 years will get used to working 9 to 5 with ease in the job world. But working 9 to 5 does not bring any more value for the world and for self, usually. For someone to be successful on grand level, one may have to hustle more hours or maybe less. At the same time, one has to be adapting to the time that is good for them to work on instead of only 9 to 5. Many people in life are trained to work in this range of time without thinking of what they are doing, what the future holds, only thinking about filling the time that is 9 to 5.
2-You expect someone to save you
I have most of the time waited for someone to come and save me from the things I do in the life after school. At school, the teachers are saviours. And that is portrayed in life same way. Most literate people are usually permission seekers, they need approval. They fear women, they fear life itself, usually. People usually wait in life, wait for someone to come and save them. They wait for someone to allow them to do what they have do, to voice their opinions, to take actions.
3- Useless information
Education is full of useless information. Many of you might know what mitochondria is from your sixth-grade science. It is defined as energy house of cells. Many of us still doesn’t know what energy house is let alone what mitochondria is. Some of you may not even know what cell is. But this took almost a year to learn a concept that soon become irrelevant in the later life. I have never been reminded of mitochondria even for second after sixth grade until I started questioning its relevancy of it to my life.
4- Judged based on the ability to memorize
For a student who was praised for most his life, it was unfair for me to judge education in a negative way. But truly, I had doubts some elementary school. Modern education is usually the ability to memorize than the ability to make it part of life or a character. Most of us memorized the text books to only answer few questions on exams. Education is irrelevant to life when it becomes a race to get good grades.
5-Not practical
Since the end it is all about getting accepted in to college, then it is probably a good idea to focus on passing exams than understanding and learning the real and useful substance of the education. This is probably why most Asian and African students could get better grades in the west. When education is a means of survival, you are not urged to know, but you are urged to get good grades. That is all. At the end of the year, you have got “A” on your physics courses but you can’t maintain your bulb. You got A on your management and business and you are living broke.
6-It teaches you irrelevant decency
You have to raise your hand to speak. And in later life you raise your hand to do whatever. The world is full of wolves. And you become one sheep who raised their hand before being eaten alive.
Modern education is a great part of life in the world. Without it the world would not be same. But the idea of education that is to produce people of same knowledge and structure is boring and rather useless. Education should be a place where skills are developed and freedom is exercised. Not a place of 9 to 5 with master and son dramas, and judgement based on ability to memorize that at the end of the day a useless information.