Loving this thread because it describes the exact opposite of me, and it explains why I felt so tortured as a student in school. I obsessed about what and why, and am comfortable loremipsum-ing the how
It also explains why I found the military *less* agonising than school 🤔
It also explains why I found the military *less* agonising than school 🤔
“Why must I go to school?” “everyone goes to school”
“but why?”
“To prepare your for your future” “how?”
“By teaching you skills”
“like what?”
“Reading and writing and math”
“what if I’m already good at all of those things?”
“Stop asking so many questions. This is school.”
“but why?”
“To prepare your for your future” “how?”
“By teaching you skills”
“like what?”
“Reading and writing and math”
“what if I’m already good at all of those things?”
“Stop asking so many questions. This is school.”
“Why must I go to the military?”
“Well about 50+ years ago we didn’t have a military, so foreigners with guns came in, raped and murdered us, raised their flag over us, made us sing their anthem and speak their language. We don’t wanna do that anymore.”
“Oh ok yea makes sense”
“Well about 50+ years ago we didn’t have a military, so foreigners with guns came in, raped and murdered us, raised their flag over us, made us sing their anthem and speak their language. We don’t wanna do that anymore.”
“Oh ok yea makes sense”
The reality of school is something closer to like, “your parents aren’t wealthy enough to pay for you to have specialised instruction. So now you’re in the hands of the state, and the state doesn’t really care about you as long as you don’t cause any problems...
“The general thing you’re going to have to understand is that most people are too tired, too stupid and too lazy to pay any special attention to you. Most employers are like this too. So we have this boring system where we mostly judge kids according to how you perform on tests”
Practically on the first day of basic training, at least one of your senior officers tells you the truth about how you’re an expendable grunt. Would’ve saved me a lot of needless grief if school did the same thing. But they mindfuck you with “you are the future of the nation” BS
If I am the future of the nation why am I being given boring homework instead of being challenged with interesting questions that are actually relevant to the future? Oh because it’s all bullshit that’s why 😂 you could’ve just told me,,, we would both have been happier for it
I‘d say the military was more draconian, but school for me was more dystopian- more gaslighting & BS. Interestingly IMO you don’t need to reform the system to provide relief - you just need one smart, empathetic, honest person to help you with your frame
I never felt guilty or ashamed for doing what I felt I had to do to survive military bureaucracy; I never got nightmares about it. School on the other hand... I’m still working through my feelings about it. Suuuch a mindfuck for me
Part of it might simply be about getting older
Part of it might simply be about getting older
Lots of older guys warned me that the military was going to drive me nuts because (for eg) there are terrible, selfish officers who get off on power trips. So I was mentally prepared for it and could smile/laugh it off
Same is true of school, but I wasn’t appropriately warned
Same is true of school, but I wasn’t appropriately warned
another big part of my tension that took me a decade to resolve is to realize that i'm just different. school isn't necessarily A Big Bad Evil, it merely is what it is.
in fact thinking that school = evil is almost a comically optimistic perspective
in fact thinking that school = evil is almost a comically optimistic perspective
major confusion THERE is that a lot of people PRETEND to be different when they're not (not judging! I understand why people do this!)
so when someone says they're different, simple base rates suggest that they're likelier to be pretending than serious
so when someone says they're different, simple base rates suggest that they're likelier to be pretending than serious
what's stunning to me about this state of affairs is
1. it's kiinda complicated, but,
2. it's not THAT complicated!!!
I basically spent like 15 years in painful contortions... but I can spare my nephews most of that needless stress and trauma by explaining the above to them
1. it's kiinda complicated, but,
2. it's not THAT complicated!!!
I basically spent like 15 years in painful contortions... but I can spare my nephews most of that needless stress and trauma by explaining the above to them
lets recap
1. sch (and mainstream civilization, really) is for bureaucrats
2. if you're not bureaucratic u gonna have a hard time (misfit)
3. if you *say* ur not bureaucratic u gonna have a hard time (lemon problem)
1. sch (and mainstream civilization, really) is for bureaucrats
2. if you're not bureaucratic u gonna have a hard time (misfit)
3. if you *say* ur not bureaucratic u gonna have a hard time (lemon problem)
4. if you make the effort, you may find other misfits... who will also give u a hard time
in conclusion:
aside: ^ by writing the above thread, I just made this song 10x more meaningful to me. this is an eg of how I create meaning "out of thin air". I can *imbue* the song with additional meaning
very cost-effective way to make life more meaningful
very cost-effective way to make life more meaningful
