Rant

Wow Dylan, thanks for that, was a really good read. I dont think that here in the UK it's quite as bad as in the US but there were certainly things in there that stood out for me.

The top students learn the system. If they are free thinkers, they hide it, because they’re after top grades and independent thinking is too risky and unpredictable.

I think this is definately true, potential for develpment is being wasted as kids just try to conform to the norm. Inteligent kids should be encourged to be proud that they are different and work to their strengths rather than having to work to cover up their differences.

The most valuable skill you can possess is the ability to acquire useful knowledge and apply it to solve real problems. Once you own this skill, you have all the education you’ll ever need.

This is another really good point. Why do you have to learn the dates of all the Kings and Queens of Britain? It would be much more useful to teach people how to find this information as you would do in real life. Although I dont do History I find the same thing in Maths, why should I be forced to remember all these formulas that I will just be able to look up in real life.

Also I see alot of people with no ability to find information for themselves. So many things can be found just by sticking them into google or Wikipeida and spending a couple of minutes looking. We now have instant access to more information than we have ever previously had with the rise of the internet and it seems such a shame to me that people are unable to use this great resource.

Anther article that guy links to is http://paulgraham.com/nerds.html which struck a chord with me. When you are in school intelectualism is actively discouraged by extreme peer pressure from all the other kids. What Paul says is that Nerds are just thinking at a higher age level and as such dont have the time to deal with the mental burden of social conformism as well. When you get to a certian age then it all evens out a bit so the distinction dissapears.

I am very glad now that I am reaching an age where being a bit smart is less of a social handicap and I guess I am starting to be a bit proud of who I am rather than covering up. It has been a damn long journey through education though and it seems a shame that it should have to be that way. I certainly dont have any answers but I know that change will be needed at some point.