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Good point. If high schools were to prepare all young adults equally well in the fundamentals (reading, writing, math), it is conceivable that they would be abl

Good point. If high schools were to prepare all young adults equally well in the fundamentals (reading, writing, math), it is conceivable that they would be able to continue their education on their own. There is a really nice essay titled "The aims of education" by the mathematician Alfred North Whitehead, which talks about what high school education could be. Summary: https://minireference.com/blog/the-aims-of-education-according-to-whitehead/ https://minireference.com/blog/the-aims-of-education-accordi... Original http://www.anthonyflood.com/whiteheadeducation.htm http://www.anthonyflood.com/whiteheadeducation.htm

IAmEveryone 9y ago
I have a fried who's a genius. He's the best mathematician I've personally known. He published a short story in a literary magazine to impress his mother and it started a 4-way bidding contest among known publishers for a book deal. He's funny, leaves a trail of sad ex-girlfriends (none of whom are ever mad, somehow), and made four "thirty-under-thirty" lists for his political work at the EU. Someone recommended him for a master stipend at Harvard's Kennedy School. He turned it down. Then I pestered him for a week and he unturned it down. Why? He's from a working class background, and was afraid of the $10,000/year he'd have pay (with debt). He read the syllabus of each class he'd take and had decided that he could learn just as much by spending $10 on late fees at the library. He was also afraid of his parent's posting their house as collateral for the debt, and that they couldn't do so twice and his brother wouldn't get the same if he wanted. My point: social mobility is also limited by what people consider possible. My parents were elite, at least in status if not economically, and "Harvard" has meaning in the family beyond being a good university. Similar mechanisms are probably at play with entrepreneurship. Or in the proven tendency of women to feel underqualified for jobs that men with exactly the same CV would apply to without any self-doubts. That's why we need to actively work on getting underrepresented groups into these institutions and professions. There's too much talent going to waste for stupid reasons right now. Getting that guy to Cambridge, MA may well end up being my most significant contribution to society.

IAmEveryone 9y ago

I have a fried who's a genius. He's the best mathematician I've personally known. He published a short story in a literary magazine to impress his mother and it started a 4-way bidding contest among known publishers for a book deal. He's funny, leaves a trail of sad ex-girlfriends (none of whom are ever mad, somehow), and made four "thirty-under-thirty" lists for his political work at the EU. Someone recommended him for a master stipend at Harvard's Kennedy School. He turned it down. Then I pestered him for a week and he unturned it down. Why? He's from a working class background, and was afraid of the $10,000/year he'd have pay (with debt). He read the syllabus of each class he'd take and had decided that he could learn just as much by spending $10 on late fees at the library. He was also afraid of his parent's posting their house as collateral for the debt, and that they couldn't do so twice and his brother wouldn't get the same if he wanted. My point: social mobility is also limited by what people consider possible. My parents were elite, at least in status if not economically, and "Harvard" has meaning in the family beyond being a good university. Similar mechanisms are probably at play with entrepreneurship. Or in the proven tendency of women to feel underqualified for jobs that men with exactly the same CV would apply to without any self-doubts. That's why we need to actively work on getting underrepresented groups into these institutions and professions. There's too much talent going to waste for stupid reasons right now. Getting that guy to Cambridge, MA may well end up being my most significant contribution to society.