sotonye.substack.com
SS: I make a case for drastically cutting back on education. I argue that education doesn’t achieve its desired goals. The material is irrelevant and students forget much of the material. Most information taught in schools is quickly accessible with a smartphone. Education might be warranted if it boosted cognitive ability but it appears to be increasing IQ scores rather than actual ability to think.
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Notes -
I don't see anywhere in that piece where you accurately identify what those goals are. You spend a lot of time talking about memorizing information, but as any teacher knows, imparting knowledge is only one goal of education.
I would also note that, while accessing information is easy on a smartphone, so too is accessing incorrect or misleading information. Knowledge of math allows one to note when a calculator gives a nonsensical answer, and familiarity with the 1948 Democratic Convention permits one to question the relevance to claims, often seen on the internet, that Democrats are the "real racists" because once upon a time white Southern racists indeed voted Democratic. Etc, etc.
Finally, let's look at this from the perspective of what is best for actual children. A goal of education is to serve their interests, in part by giving them future opportunities. Most students who read Shakespeare will not go on to lives in which knowledge of Shakespeare is important, but if no child reads Shakespeare, then no child will lead that life; that life will be foreclosed to them. And that btw is the basic flaw in the "most students never use 90% of what is taught": That might be true, but the 10% that is used differs from child to child, and there is no way to know which 10% will be relevant to which child 20 years later.
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