I believe many of us were raised with a perceived ceiling. How often while you were growing up did you hear something like:
“You can’t do that.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Because that’s just the way it is.”
I heard it a lot.
Most of us were educated in public schools. While revolutionary at their inception, they were conceived to produce a literate, functional, docile populous to be the labor component of a budding industrialized society.
Yet the impossible is achieved every day. Elon Musk dreamt then built re-usable rockets that land upright by themselves. Steve Jobs held up a piece of glass and said “This will be the next phone we build.” Half his engineering team quit. And those are just the sexy examples. Scientists, engineers, and nerds are expanding the bounds of possible right now.
I posit that we have outgrown the original conception of public education. I support public education, strongly. I also think it is overdue for a radical overhaul.
Against that backdrop, it is up to each of us to break past the tin tile ceiling that has been hung above us. What is above the ceiling?
Light.
The light of first-hand experimental knowledge. And the responsibility of scientific, critical thinking. Yet subjectivity remains.
The pure light of knowledge is ensconced in the humility of uncertainty. If taken to extremes, you are left with “I think therefore I am.”, as Descartes so elegantly put it. The humility of uncertainty may be interpreted as either “anything is possible” or “nothing is real”. Duality.
Therefore, one must choose at which strata to believe. What point between 19th century working class pragmatism, or religious tradition, and intellectual purism will best serve you? What of the people who choose a strata closer or further from the light?
Galileo, Newton, Poincare, Magellan, Tesla, Feinman, Musk, all challenged – and moved – the edges of what is possible. The early adopters of their theories, and of course they themselves, were too close to the light for those comfortable with the status quo.
Yet there were those who embraced Halley’s theory (yes, that Halley) of the hollow earth, Einstein’s static universe, or Aristotle’s spontaneous generation. These are not obscure names of crackpots.
Venturing toward the light as an embracer of possibility is socially risky. Yet any position on the spectrum comes with a substantial risk of later learning that you are wrong. Reach for the stars or cling to the flat earth, it’s up to you. Though some things are more readily proven than others.
My plea is for you to withhold judgement of those at a different chosen strata. Engage in curiosity-driven, scientifically minded, critical thinking as you share perceptions, rationale, and conclusions. You don’t even have to arrive at agreement – just engage in an actual conversation rather than blindly regurgitating talking points at one another.
What do you think?
Gordon, I am delighted to read your essay on learning. I have worked in learning — particularly how adults keep learning through their lives — but I couldn’t ignore that we often shut off our young people from exploration or from simply asking questions. When I write about resilience (my current emphasis), I am encouraging learning whether it is about the self, about what you already know, or about what you are simply curious. Learning is part of unlocking and enhancing our resilience regardless of our age. All this to say, thanks for your thinking about learning and that all of us learn at different levels and to different levels. “Radical overhaul” is indeed called for, and when we do it (notice I didn’t say if), everyone will have more creativity, resilience, and a curious spirit. –Madelyn Blair
Yes, I was very often the one to say to you “You can’t do that!” Your dad would admonish me with “don’t curb his enthusiasm.” I wanted to yell, and sometimes did, “there’s a limit to how much enthusiastic energy I can take in a day and not be flat on my face by dinnertime.”
Wonderful essay! Yes, we will (as Blair said) overhaul our educational system –I hope I live long enough to see the day!
It is interesting to me that we are both writing about light this week. I’ll share my sermon with you once it is finished! It is entitled “Delight” based on Mary Poppins, Saving Mr. Banks, Mary Poppins Returns. I may add a bit of your commentary to it. If I do, I will owe you a free meal (with me) — a Jesse Lee UMC tradition when we refer to a friend or family member in a sermon.
You are a shining light in this world! love you lots, Mom