100% stolen from jzhao Editor's Note: I may or may not be doing a yearly letter to myself, like Jzhao. I dunno. Probably not. Second Editor's Note: Quite clearly i lost the plot on this one. It's not really a letter to myself, its an open letter regarding how i see life in school. Probably will try again next time?
Perhaps Marx was right. Not about communism, but the existence of class. Maybe that's an established fact, I dunno, but there seems to be class, and thus class warfare everywhere.
It seems class has infiltrated all parts of society. Even education.
Inside and outside observers will notice there is an uneven playing field for academic success.
Sadly, money is a key factor in all of this. The "elite nomads", as a certain "M.Spicata" would call them, are successful over the others for many reasons. They pay for tutors. They have their siblings help them. They hoard their resources for their own benefit.
But most of all, they are confident. I am not here to attack the "elite nomads", because knowing some of them I've come to realise they kinda deserve to be "elite". They study more, they think more deeply, they live more holistically, etc.
Yet, inequality still prevails. And as long as this inequality still exists, the potential of those who feel disadvantaged is lost forever.
These people are not stupid. They are not lazy. They are just neglected by a system that favours those who show signs of "intelligence"(I don't like that word) early on. These children appear smart to their parents, hence they invest in early education, hence they gain the upper edge and boom, we have an unequal distribution of students.
I mentioned class in the beginning because that's what it feels like. It feels like we live in a community of aristocrats vs absolute buffoons. This is not poggers.
So, what to do? How do we make the playing ground equal?
Funnily enough, this ties into the internet movements of our generation. How do we make data free and open source (FOSS)?
Here's a breakdown of my plan so far.
The prerogative of these goals are not to make the "elite" "eliter" and "stupid" "stupider". I want these supporting materials of education to be widely available for everyone.
This way, everyone can be great. Everyone can learn well, and have the ability to practice to become even better. The goal is to lift the chains of society off the young student, and to give them the choice. To let them decide whether a life of academic success is what they want, in comparison to them wanting such a life but being able to achieve so.
I like to learn. I like doing well in school. I like having good grades. But at some point, I need to ask myself,
Is this really what I want?
Because doing all of this is mentally draining. In the tragically zero-sum game of student life I, and others, play, our crusade for freer education comes at the price of our own.
And the thought of that scares me. I don't want to throw away my ideals for my own, greedy, selfish goals.
But.
But.
Utilitarianism is widely believed to be the best ethical theory when considering yourself as an individual among society. Yet, we as individuals should reserve the right to fight for ourselves.
While a brave, dedicated soldier may die for his country, one must not overlook the fact that the soldier could've lived a much longer life, in happiness and in health.
Hence, an issue.
At what point am I dedicating too much to this?
I am considering giving it all up.
Not obsidian. But the website thing.
To live in peace and isolation, working only for myself
To join the "elite nomads" in the goal to be the best.
Because to be the best, there must exist those who are worse.
Those who simply must be neglected, so the "elite" may thrive.
Thinking.
Thinking.
S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma percioche giammai di questo fondo Non torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero, Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.
With love(and a bit of sadness in my heart),
Ed
