"I didn't go to Harvard but the people that work for me did." - Elon Musk
Many of the great geniuses throughout history, such as Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla and Leonardo Da Vinci, were self-taught autodidacts. They were college dropouts. Rebels of their time. Non-conformists.
They rejected the formal education system and decided to educate themselves about the things that mattered to them. They realized formal schooling is more often than not a hindrance to one's intellectual and emotional development and ultimately breeds conformity rather than creativity.
One's inner genius can only be awoken under the right circumstances, and freedom of thought and expression -- traits that are deemed undesirable in school -- are paramount in triggering such an awakening. That is why the 'well-educated' are seldom labelled geniuses. Smart? Successful? Rich and well-paid? Sure. But genius...genius is a term reserved for those free spirits, trailblazers and rebels who were able to see beyond the veils of ignorance of their time and were, more often than not, way AHEAD their time.
They didn't fail school. School failed them.
“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” - Albert Einstein
I would take it one step further. Geniuses are rare, but people who are successful in creating a business or in most kinds of organisations, are people who have an enquiring mind and get things done, not because they have degrees.
I ran away from a school when I was about 15. The school sent out teachers to find me. A teacher (luckily someone I really liked) found me in the nearest city and asked me to wait while he parks, so that he can take me for a milkshake - and he would not take me back to school.
He told me, either you will be a millionaire when you grow up, or else, you'll be a tramp.
He explained that he watched me in class reading a book I was holding under the desk, not even pretending to listen to him. The next day he surprised us with a test - deliberately, expecting me to fail dismally. I ended up with the highest score. He told me that he realised I learnt (from him) because I was not paying attention (that has bcome accepted by educators but most teachers do not understand it).
I became a millionaire and then lost it all, so I satisified both his predictions :)
Years later, I sat in a bus on a long journey and the man next to me opened a discussion, from politics to business and ethics and so on. At the end he asked me at which university I had studied and what my subjects had been (he was an American professor), I answered I have never been to a university. He asked me how do I know so much and I replied that I love reading and that I also am curious about how things work and how other people think.
He told me I should not feel ashamed of my lack of university, but proud of my reading, for it made me a more 'complete' mind, knowing bits of information about many subjects, which most of his students never achieve. (I wonder whether he ever told his students about this oddball he met in a bus in Greece)
:))
Seeing your post brought those experiences back and I would say, do not look to be a genius, most of them are not happy; look to be a well-rounded mind, with a wide base of knowledge, and always rely on facts, not just emotions. The worst you can do to yourself is go through life trying to emulate a vegetable.
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Thank you for sharing.
This comment deserves a post of its own!
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The school system is learning and repeating rather than free thought and problem solving
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Ah this subject is one of my favorites. My only question is whether this problem with the "education" system is at the root of society's ills or is there something deeper. Most of the current systems in place are shams-healthcare, government, finance, etc, but it seems education is the one that keeps the statist-quo active. What do you think?
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I'm not sure if it's at the root, but it's one of the main things that perpetuates and upholds the current system. Bad parenting is probably closer to the root. The indoctrination system we call 'education' is merely a symptom of lazy/unconscious parenting.
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