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going overboard

Friday, April 13, 2012

I just finished watching Nightline's story about parents spending tons of money to prepare their preschoolers for the entrance exam to schools for gifted kids.

I find it rather irksome.
1. If there is one thing that life has taught me, it's that brain smarts isn't everything. I've seen geniuses fail miserably in life. Fail in relationships. Fail in emotional stability.
2. Aside from that there are a variety of intelligence, you might call it "talent." You only need one exceptional talent (and some marketing magic + drive) to do well.
3. We don't all learn the same way. Classroom instruction is not necessarily the best way to gain our education. I once heard on the radio some comment about how ridiculous it would be to put all the animals in the jungle in a classroom and expect them to perform equally well in the different tasks. Lions are not good swimmers and tigers are not good climbers, for example.
4. Finally, I don't believe in studying for tests that are meant to measure your general intelligence. I don't believe in studying for the SAT.

Formal education is good. I'm all for it. But please put it in perspective; it's not the end-all, be-all.

I have come to appreciate the marvelous talents, personalities, courage, creativity and various redeeming qualities of others. Yes, redeeming qualities. We all have some redeeming qualities don't we?

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