Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Intellectualism should not be a competition (#2329)

The way we have set up our educational system is actually discouraging intellectualism. We only reward those who are the smartest among us and do little to nothing for those who fail to be first among the test takers. It is an all or nothing competition that misses the mark as to the intent and purpose of education. Many of us have remarkable learning gifts and talents but unless we stand alone atop the hill we are rarely recognized for our otherwise tremendous achievements. The idea that competing against each other for placements surely does provide for the winner but the bulk of all the rest are left with little to move forward toward. It seems to me that the goal of intellectualism is to bring all into it's field of understanding regardless of the competition we place ourselves under. Some are early bloomers and some are late bloomers and some are just a bit faster and slower than others but the stifling finality of being told we don't have what it takes, surely depresses and nullifies many from further intellectual advancement. Our psyche's are fragile enough without being told we don't measure up coming from arbitrary reasoning. We need to have an educational system that recognizes all of our potential while giving us a pathway for much needed reasonable achievement. I appreciate and admire the special among us who do have extraordinary mental acuity and they should be heralded toward a special future but the rest of us are equally ambitious to succeed and our only recourse is a discouraging future with little opportunity for success to be realized. I can see why many have just given up on modernization and intellectualism, it has been a brutal experience where we more often than not are avoided and forgotten.

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