Today is Edison’s birthday. Our schools teach students about his many inventions – the lightbulb, the phonograph – but always leave out one little fact: Edison had almost no schooling.
Edison’s mind wandered too much and they kicked him out after three months. He taught himself, and went on to create things that were undreamed of in his time. Today, such a life would be almost impossible. How many potential Edisons do we snuff out by forcing them into concrete prisons — er, schools — for twelve years?
And don’t think Edison was some special genius. He’d be the first to tell you that he wasn’t. Remember his adage, one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration? Edison was an incredible success not because of some special inborn talent, not because of schooling, not because he dutifully fit himself into some hierarchy somewhere and took orders all his life — Edison was a success because he motivated himself to learn constantly and do work he loved to do.
Someone who is motivated to learn, who really wants to learn, will learn all he needs without prodding. This is a trait shared by all the most innovative people in history.
Motivation like that produces the best results, and yet it cannot be forced upon a young mind. So why do we bother with schools? Well, the answer is complex and sinister. I had to write a book about it to explain it properly. But I can tell you that it definitely isn’t about making kids smarter.
There really is no point to sending our kids to school, if men like Thomas Edison are the product of unschooling. If we want more Edisons, we should let our children grow and develop and become self-motivated, and keep them out of the kiddie prisons.
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