It seems that most of your videos articulate exactly my thoughts in an intriguing way. I seem to have a sense of self-awareness distinguished from others since the age of 12. I find it commendable that there are few in this world who reflect on a day-to-day basis of all actions surrounding them, although sometimes I feel alone.
You hit the nail on the head! I have always felt that this is what education is truly about. Have you ever read any of John Taylor Gatto's books? Excellent post. Thank you.
@SpringVanillaRose I have heard extensively of Gatto, and I have read excerpts, but not whole books -- yet. This is certainly an author whom I plan to read in the future.
While I did enjoy your thoughts on formal education I suggest to you not to use the term "their better" to describe intellectuals over others. I swear, that alone makes me want to punch a nerd.
@mailrus This is not a contrast between intellectuals and others, but rather one between bullies and the bullied. It is, I believe, an indisputable fact that people being bullied are virtually always better human beings than the people who bully them. Bully children are some of the most troubled and least capable among their peers, and they try to compensate for the correspondingly low self-esteem by pulling other children down. Exposure to bullying is the greatest disservice schools inflict.
I have found that the lack of a "formal" education has hindered me professionally regardless of what I know from my own studies. My wife and children have to "suffer" (it's not quite that bad) the fact that I put the cart before the horse. I am now "forced" to attend college but do so part time to avoid taking time from them which is what my children need the most so that I can provide money to feed and clothe them properly.
@SecularInquisitor Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my videos. It is true that in the present culture, one can suffer serious setbacks for not having the degrees that other people consider prestigious. I think the best way to change the situation is to keep personally getting such degrees (there is no need to be a martyr to a cause), while communicating ideas that might change the cultural perception of education.
My quick gloss on this idea-rich video is that education seems to have two separate elements: monkey-training (so to speak!) to make money; and wisdom-gaining to highly exploit and fully enjoy life. Both are important and drop-dead necessary. And they're even somewhat related in that you need LUXURY to truly enjoy life; and it vastly helps to work at a job you ENJOY.
A truly rich and insightful commentary and analysis with many different threads and ideas! It might be better broken up into smaller pieces. I consider this a kind of college-level lecture -- except that the professor is considerably wiser, brighter, and more concise than almost all his educational rivals! :-)
Aside from making a number of unsupportable, subjective value judgments, you skipped what I consider the A#1 problem with schooling.
That is, the lack of play. Play is an evolutionary toolset for education, most mammals play. Play allows people to learn their own limits, and the limits of others, as well as how to interact with others.
Schools actually approach education in the exact wrong direction, by avoiding all play, and subjecting children to enforced boredom for hours a day.
Jcolinsol -- Nice additional point! Youngsters and boys especially need energetic physical activity, sports, and play -- probably SEVERAL times per school day.
IMPORTANT: It appears that the YouTube system does not permit more than 23 comments to appear on this page. Please post any further comments you may have on this video to my user profile page.
It appears that some system glitch led many of the earliest comments to be deleted. So I will re-post them here to the best of my ability. (I have e-mail records of some, although not necessarily all -- and, unfortunately, not many of my responses to these comments.)
SourcesAreEverything wrote: "While I do not completely agree with your conclusion, I find some of your points very interests. Thank you for your video :-) "
nsleon22 wrote: "Woah blew me away. I currently attend university and have recently brought up some of these same questions to my girlfriend in significantly less detail. I appreciate the insight and firm stance you brought forward in this video. I don't know anyone else getting this message out there, so thank you!"
I was never academic and had poor motivational skills (still rubbish motivation unless i get into something i'm passionate about!). I was told i was stupid by maths teachers - and i had a fairly 'priveliged' education in the Uk. I didn't go to university as i thought it was a waste of time. I'm a creative - now making my living as an artist/illustrator. I hated school and found it stifling and useless. One size does not ever ever fit all - and If i have kids, I want to home school.
Your comment: "I become more and more enlightened with every video of yours that I watch. I think today, with the Internet, it is easier than ever for people to achieve a good informal education. The problem is, however, that people without formal education who succeed in life are far too few in between, and it takes a good share of luck, considering how hard it is to properly utilize informal education in our world, when almost every good job requires experience and/or formal education."
Actually, it appears that the system is limiting comments on this video to 23 in total. This is a shame. I will recommend that all comments on this video be posted to my profile.
Great video. The stupidity of modern school system is incredible. As a current student in high-school, you can take my word for it. It makes me feel dumber. It wasn't even until my junior year that I was convinced school was worth the work. Why should I have? No teacher ever took notice of me or encouraged me. The content was all insanely easy. The social structure in school is degrading and mind-numbing even to those with many friends. I spent my freshmen and sophomore years learning the most.
Ironically the years I learned the most, discovered and explored philosophy, rethought my ideas on religion and politics, and totally changed my world view, I received GPAs of 2.0 and 2.5. The system is fundamentally broken. It does not encourage individuals to grow and explore their interests. It just wants mindless zombies who don't question their work. My junior year I put a little effort in, and took a few AP classes, and managed a 3.75. The system is shockingly oppressive and mind-numbing.
I agree with you. This is why I believe that higher education access should be based on student merit and that generous merit scholarships should be given by private universities to the best students, irrespective of their wealth or background. Unfortunately, the drive toward "universal access" to universities has resulted in the elimination of many merit-based grants and their replacement with "need-based" aid, typically in the form of loans that saddle the student for years afterward.
I agree so much. I graduated 2 years ago with a degree in microbiology and I finally have a steady job in the science field which I hope I will gain experience but it is doing little to feed any love of my field. I'm finding that it will take 6 years to pay off my loans if half extra cash my pay goes to pay for them. I have also run into the problem of multiple meanings for one word. Especially with words like theory. I am currently doing a video series on defining love, including biology.
My best wishes to you in paying off those loans. From my reading of your profile description, it looks like you have accomplished a lot already, especially considering how your own worldview has evolved by leaps and bounds. I hope that your career becomes more fulfilling as it develops, and I look forward to exploring your video series.
Thanks, I knew you emigrated from Belorussia but you dont have a foreign accent. I hope its not prying to ask, but I find linguistics fascinating. Would you be as comfortable waxing away in Russian as you appear to be in English?
I am fluent in ordinary conversational Russian but would probably not be as adept at high philosophical discussion. I think in English, and many of my Russian expressions are literal translations from English - generously peppered with Latin-based words that are similar in both languages. I also find that Western classical liberal/individualist ideas are more difficult to express in Russian, as the language does not have some of the same terms and connotations of terms that English has.
Nonetheless, I can understand anything I read or hear in Russian -- including high literature and philosophy. Oddly enough, I have read Victor Hugo and Jack London in Russian, but Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov in English.
6:30 in most schools in the UK we are separated in to 'groups' or 'sets'. The set we are placed into depends on our ability to learn and our behaviour. For example, I remember there was a rather intelligent individual in our science class, who was also very disruptive and a bully. He was put into a lower ability set, so he couldn't disrupt the rest of us and so that he would be with others who shared his lack of enthusiasm for learning. After his attitude changed, he was put back into set 1.
Interesting. Separating students by ability is a step in the right direction and more closely approaches self-education. Another improvement would be to allow students to pursue individualized projects in particular disciplines -- where a student learns something about a subject in general while delving into a specific area of interest.
As a future educator myself, the main points brought up in the video are perhaps the most important things I can keep in mind. This video is right up my alley.
Thank you! The more educators recognize the true extent and nature of education, the more true education will be spread. I hope that, as an educator, you will enlighten many people and change their lives for the better.
I see these guys everyday in my school, even thou they aren't legally forced to go to school anymore (under 16 are forced to go to school in Italy), they just come here to kill time, they have absolutely no interest in learning anything, they just go to school so they can "finish a school" or "get a diplom" if not they failed at life or something, and the fact that they just come at school and fuck around will in some way make them ready for adulthood.
It is sometimes saddening to think about all the productive things these young people *could* have done if they did not feel the pressure to be somewhere they neither wanted nor needed to be...
Fascinating!! My wife is a primary school teacher here in the UK and this nicely sums up the current situation. We are both from the Netherlands and the situation is better over there. It seems to me that the policies that have led to this situation in the UK are partly due to Labour - Conservatives rivalry and a subsequent narrowminded target-based approach.
Thank you for your comments. Indeed, the politicization of education makes matters even worse. Not only do politicians try to attain goals that are meant more for show than as a reflection of substantial accomplishments, but curricula get infiltrated with narrow-minded agendas, and inquiries contrary to the "consensus" of those in charge frequently get suppressed or at least frowned on. In the United States, representatives of both the Left and the Right are guilty of doing this in the schools.
Ugh. I see no reason why I have to be here. But I don't know what to do once I am out. It seems after being in college, my self esteem has withered away to almost nothing. It seems like they are teaching us something that we won't use in the future, either. It's going to get worse and worse as time flies by. I have to stay here. I can't do anything else.
While college, I decided to simultaneously pursue an education directly related to my career. On my own, I studied for and passed four actuarial exams and now have a rather well-paying job as an actuary. Many of my classmates who relied solely on their coursework and grades to gain them paid employment had a much more difficult time. Perhaps independently pursuing a professional certification while in college is something you can look into. It will give you an *excellent* education.
I become more and more enlightened with every video of yours that I watch.
I think today, with the Internet, it is easier than ever for people to achieve a good informal education. The problem is, however, that people without formal education who succeed in life are far too few in between, and it takes a good share of luck, considering how hard it is to properly utilize informal education in our world, when almost every good job requires experience and/or formal education.
Thank you for continuing to watch my videos. I am always honored by your comments.
Your observation is all too true, of course. This is why I am emphatically *not* recommending that anybody drop out of school or fail to pursue a degree that might -- deservedly or not -- open some career doors. The system, and public opinion, are too far gone for a single lifestyle choice to do anything but damage the person choosing it.
Nonetheless, I think it is important to gradually persuade people that the current mindset about education and the expectation that everyone ought to attend college (and even the support of compulsory schooling altogether) ought to be abandoned.
However, I also hope that my video will motivate more people to resist the Obama administration's plan to lengthen school days and school years and also to pursue a lot of informal education in their spare time. This may eventually turn the tide.
Woah blew me away. I currently attend university and have recently brought up some of these same questions to my girlfriend in significantly less detail. I appreciate the insight and firm stance you brought forward in this video. I don't know anyone else getting this message out there, so thank you!
Bravo. Thank you for another great video full of thoughtful, balanced, and well-reasoned analysis on a topic that everyone should be informed about.
nonchalantd 1 month ago
It seems that most of your videos articulate exactly my thoughts in an intriguing way. I seem to have a sense of self-awareness distinguished from others since the age of 12. I find it commendable that there are few in this world who reflect on a day-to-day basis of all actions surrounding them, although sometimes I feel alone.
ScorpiaX 11 months ago
Starting at 2:56
Let's not forget that generations upon generations of children have been victims of this misunderstanding.
SpringVanillaRose 1 year ago
You hit the nail on the head! I have always felt that this is what education is truly about. Have you ever read any of John Taylor Gatto's books? Excellent post. Thank you.
SpringVanillaRose 1 year ago
@SpringVanillaRose I have heard extensively of Gatto, and I have read excerpts, but not whole books -- yet. This is certainly an author whom I plan to read in the future.
GStolyarovII 1 year ago
This was a magnificent video. Your opinions are very close to mine, in regards to education.
fireman12888 1 year ago
@fireman12888 Thank you! Much appreciated!
GStolyarovII 1 year ago
7:13
Gameboob 1 year ago
While I did enjoy your thoughts on formal education I suggest to you not to use the term "their better" to describe intellectuals over others. I swear, that alone makes me want to punch a nerd.
mailrus 1 year ago
@mailrus This is not a contrast between intellectuals and others, but rather one between bullies and the bullied. It is, I believe, an indisputable fact that people being bullied are virtually always better human beings than the people who bully them. Bully children are some of the most troubled and least capable among their peers, and they try to compensate for the correspondingly low self-esteem by pulling other children down. Exposure to bullying is the greatest disservice schools inflict.
GStolyarovII 1 year ago 2
I have found that the lack of a "formal" education has hindered me professionally regardless of what I know from my own studies. My wife and children have to "suffer" (it's not quite that bad) the fact that I put the cart before the horse. I am now "forced" to attend college but do so part time to avoid taking time from them which is what my children need the most so that I can provide money to feed and clothe them properly.
SecularInquisitor 2 years ago
@SecularInquisitor Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my videos. It is true that in the present culture, one can suffer serious setbacks for not having the degrees that other people consider prestigious. I think the best way to change the situation is to keep personally getting such degrees (there is no need to be a martyr to a cause), while communicating ideas that might change the cultural perception of education.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
My quick gloss on this idea-rich video is that education seems to have two separate elements: monkey-training (so to speak!) to make money; and wisdom-gaining to highly exploit and fully enjoy life. Both are important and drop-dead necessary. And they're even somewhat related in that you need LUXURY to truly enjoy life; and it vastly helps to work at a job you ENJOY.
PureLiberalRadio 2 years ago
Excellent points here!
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
A truly rich and insightful commentary and analysis with many different threads and ideas! It might be better broken up into smaller pieces. I consider this a kind of college-level lecture -- except that the professor is considerably wiser, brighter, and more concise than almost all his educational rivals! :-)
PureLiberalRadio 2 years ago
Aside from making a number of unsupportable, subjective value judgments, you skipped what I consider the A#1 problem with schooling.
That is, the lack of play. Play is an evolutionary toolset for education, most mammals play. Play allows people to learn their own limits, and the limits of others, as well as how to interact with others.
Schools actually approach education in the exact wrong direction, by avoiding all play, and subjecting children to enforced boredom for hours a day.
Jcolinsol 2 years ago
Jcolinsol -- Nice additional point! Youngsters and boys especially need energetic physical activity, sports, and play -- probably SEVERAL times per school day.
PureLiberalRadio 2 years ago
IMPORTANT: It appears that the YouTube system does not permit more than 23 comments to appear on this page. Please post any further comments you may have on this video to my user profile page.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
It appears that some system glitch led many of the earliest comments to be deleted. So I will re-post them here to the best of my ability. (I have e-mail records of some, although not necessarily all -- and, unfortunately, not many of my responses to these comments.)
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
SourcesAreEverything wrote: "While I do not completely agree with your conclusion, I find some of your points very interests. Thank you for your video :-) "
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
nsleon22 wrote: "Woah blew me away. I currently attend university and have recently brought up some of these same questions to my girlfriend in significantly less detail. I appreciate the insight and firm stance you brought forward in this video. I don't know anyone else getting this message out there, so thank you!"
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
I was never academic and had poor motivational skills (still rubbish motivation unless i get into something i'm passionate about!). I was told i was stupid by maths teachers - and i had a fairly 'priveliged' education in the Uk. I didn't go to university as i thought it was a waste of time. I'm a creative - now making my living as an artist/illustrator. I hated school and found it stifling and useless. One size does not ever ever fit all - and If i have kids, I want to home school.
alittlebitofperil 2 years ago
Damn, why did my comments disappear? I know it's not you deleting them, but damn, when will the YouTube administration fix this glitch? >:-(
Akatam0t0ma 2 years ago
Your comment: "I become more and more enlightened with every video of yours that I watch. I think today, with the Internet, it is easier than ever for people to achieve a good informal education. The problem is, however, that people without formal education who succeed in life are far too few in between, and it takes a good share of luck, considering how hard it is to properly utilize informal education in our world, when almost every good job requires experience and/or formal education."
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Fortunately, I had that one in my e-mail. I lost the comment I wrote to you in response, however. These glitches are indeed concerning to me.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Actually, it appears that the system is limiting comments on this video to 23 in total. This is a shame. I will recommend that all comments on this video be posted to my profile.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
10*
invisibletime 2 years ago
Great video. The stupidity of modern school system is incredible. As a current student in high-school, you can take my word for it. It makes me feel dumber. It wasn't even until my junior year that I was convinced school was worth the work. Why should I have? No teacher ever took notice of me or encouraged me. The content was all insanely easy. The social structure in school is degrading and mind-numbing even to those with many friends. I spent my freshmen and sophomore years learning the most.
Nonoyawns 2 years ago
Ironically the years I learned the most, discovered and explored philosophy, rethought my ideas on religion and politics, and totally changed my world view, I received GPAs of 2.0 and 2.5. The system is fundamentally broken. It does not encourage individuals to grow and explore their interests. It just wants mindless zombies who don't question their work. My junior year I put a little effort in, and took a few AP classes, and managed a 3.75. The system is shockingly oppressive and mind-numbing.
Nonoyawns 2 years ago
I think Mark Twain said it best-"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
ALittleBitPregnant 2 years ago 2
I agree with you. This is why I believe that higher education access should be based on student merit and that generous merit scholarships should be given by private universities to the best students, irrespective of their wealth or background. Unfortunately, the drive toward "universal access" to universities has resulted in the elimination of many merit-based grants and their replacement with "need-based" aid, typically in the form of loans that saddle the student for years afterward.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Best vid I've seen on education in a very long time. Five stars
DesertLaser 2 years ago
Thank you!
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
I agree so much. I graduated 2 years ago with a degree in microbiology and I finally have a steady job in the science field which I hope I will gain experience but it is doing little to feed any love of my field. I'm finding that it will take 6 years to pay off my loans if half extra cash my pay goes to pay for them. I have also run into the problem of multiple meanings for one word. Especially with words like theory. I am currently doing a video series on defining love, including biology.
anubis2814 2 years ago
My best wishes to you in paying off those loans. From my reading of your profile description, it looks like you have accomplished a lot already, especially considering how your own worldview has evolved by leaps and bounds. I hope that your career becomes more fulfilling as it develops, and I look forward to exploring your video series.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Thanks, I knew you emigrated from Belorussia but you dont have a foreign accent. I hope its not prying to ask, but I find linguistics fascinating. Would you be as comfortable waxing away in Russian as you appear to be in English?
lengthyounarther 2 years ago
I am fluent in ordinary conversational Russian but would probably not be as adept at high philosophical discussion. I think in English, and many of my Russian expressions are literal translations from English - generously peppered with Latin-based words that are similar in both languages. I also find that Western classical liberal/individualist ideas are more difficult to express in Russian, as the language does not have some of the same terms and connotations of terms that English has.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Nonetheless, I can understand anything I read or hear in Russian -- including high literature and philosophy. Oddly enough, I have read Victor Hugo and Jack London in Russian, but Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov in English.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
6:30 in most schools in the UK we are separated in to 'groups' or 'sets'. The set we are placed into depends on our ability to learn and our behaviour. For example, I remember there was a rather intelligent individual in our science class, who was also very disruptive and a bully. He was put into a lower ability set, so he couldn't disrupt the rest of us and so that he would be with others who shared his lack of enthusiasm for learning. After his attitude changed, he was put back into set 1.
monkeymox 2 years ago
Interesting. Separating students by ability is a step in the right direction and more closely approaches self-education. Another improvement would be to allow students to pursue individualized projects in particular disciplines -- where a student learns something about a subject in general while delving into a specific area of interest.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Nicely played sir.
mtsac1 2 years ago
Thank you!
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
I don't know how I have never ran into you. Brilliant video. Favorited. Subbed. 5 stars. If I was gay I would even offer a blow job.
I don't know if you have read much on John Holt and Unschooling. I think you would find it interesting.
aaron0883 2 years ago 2
He's married
lengthyounarther 2 years ago
As a future educator myself, the main points brought up in the video are perhaps the most important things I can keep in mind. This video is right up my alley.
Yuri92001 2 years ago
Thank you! The more educators recognize the true extent and nature of education, the more true education will be spread. I hope that, as an educator, you will enlighten many people and change their lives for the better.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Nice video. Looks like it will be a good series. Can you speak Russian?
lengthyounarther 2 years ago
Thank you for your kind comments.
Yes, I do speak Russian. I lived in Minsk for the first nine years of my life, before emigrating to the United States.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
god damn.
I see these guys everyday in my school, even thou they aren't legally forced to go to school anymore (under 16 are forced to go to school in Italy), they just come here to kill time, they have absolutely no interest in learning anything, they just go to school so they can "finish a school" or "get a diplom" if not they failed at life or something, and the fact that they just come at school and fuck around will in some way make them ready for adulthood.
Its all about social pressure.
rapzeh4 2 years ago
Indeed; thank you for sharing your observations.
It is sometimes saddening to think about all the productive things these young people *could* have done if they did not feel the pressure to be somewhere they neither wanted nor needed to be...
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Fascinating!! My wife is a primary school teacher here in the UK and this nicely sums up the current situation. We are both from the Netherlands and the situation is better over there. It seems to me that the policies that have led to this situation in the UK are partly due to Labour - Conservatives rivalry and a subsequent narrowminded target-based approach.
ticobassie 2 years ago
Thank you for your comments. Indeed, the politicization of education makes matters even worse. Not only do politicians try to attain goals that are meant more for show than as a reflection of substantial accomplishments, but curricula get infiltrated with narrow-minded agendas, and inquiries contrary to the "consensus" of those in charge frequently get suppressed or at least frowned on. In the United States, representatives of both the Left and the Right are guilty of doing this in the schools.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Ugh. I see no reason why I have to be here. But I don't know what to do once I am out. It seems after being in college, my self esteem has withered away to almost nothing. It seems like they are teaching us something that we won't use in the future, either. It's going to get worse and worse as time flies by. I have to stay here. I can't do anything else.
KellyMacCornmac 2 years ago
While college, I decided to simultaneously pursue an education directly related to my career. On my own, I studied for and passed four actuarial exams and now have a rather well-paying job as an actuary. Many of my classmates who relied solely on their coursework and grades to gain them paid employment had a much more difficult time. Perhaps independently pursuing a professional certification while in college is something you can look into. It will give you an *excellent* education.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
I become more and more enlightened with every video of yours that I watch.
I think today, with the Internet, it is easier than ever for people to achieve a good informal education. The problem is, however, that people without formal education who succeed in life are far too few in between, and it takes a good share of luck, considering how hard it is to properly utilize informal education in our world, when almost every good job requires experience and/or formal education.
Akatam0t0ma 2 years ago
Thank you for continuing to watch my videos. I am always honored by your comments.
Your observation is all too true, of course. This is why I am emphatically *not* recommending that anybody drop out of school or fail to pursue a degree that might -- deservedly or not -- open some career doors. The system, and public opinion, are too far gone for a single lifestyle choice to do anything but damage the person choosing it.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Nonetheless, I think it is important to gradually persuade people that the current mindset about education and the expectation that everyone ought to attend college (and even the support of compulsory schooling altogether) ought to be abandoned.
However, I also hope that my video will motivate more people to resist the Obama administration's plan to lengthen school days and school years and also to pursue a lot of informal education in their spare time. This may eventually turn the tide.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
Woah blew me away. I currently attend university and have recently brought up some of these same questions to my girlfriend in significantly less detail. I appreciate the insight and firm stance you brought forward in this video. I don't know anyone else getting this message out there, so thank you!
nsleon22 2 years ago
Thank you for your comments! I always appreciate knowing that others have arrived at similar thoughts independently.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago
While I do not completely agree with your conclusion, I find some of your points very interests. Thank you for your video :-)
SourcesAreEverything 2 years ago
You are welcome. Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts.
GStolyarovII 2 years ago