W008: Notes
The School System Sucks, Now What..., Victim vs Player Mindset, Techno-selectionism, Millennials Are Aging Like Fine Wine.
The School System Sucks, Now What…
This video, and many like them, continue to make the rounds on social media. It’s good! Our education system is a broken one, and one I cautiously hope will one day change to truly support our young minds.
But I have a small frustration with this type of content. One, it’s like.. duh! But equally I feel it’s putting our children in such a victimhood role.
I was one of the kids that did not work within our school system. Labeled dumb and coined a lost cause. This was continuously said to my face starting at the age of 8 -- by teachers. I therefore agree, something needs to change. One size fits all systems are almost always an issue and it’s fantastic that this foundational one is starting to be questioned more and more.
But while we do the important work on getting this “fixed” we also need to talk about how our kids can find ways through this broken systems while it is still the only option available for most. Because I don’t believe the system will truly change for another few generations to come. Watch this video I saved 13 years ago…
While it’s good that video’s about our broken system go viral, they fail to talk about the choices we have beyond simply stating the (by now obvious) problems of our current school system. It puts our children in a victimhood role, as it often doesn't go beyond, “the school system sucks”.
Although I agree, our school system does suck, our role in it doesn't stop by acknowledging it.
I believe that after it becomes apparent a child doesn't fit within the system (and that that system is not going to change or help) there is a SECOND chance for us to find THEIR way through it. One that teaches agency and builds resilience.
At the age of 12 I realised our school system would never help me. That if I relied on it, I would end up exactly where it expected me to go - nowhere. I then consciously decided to forge my own path and found ways to work within the system that didn’t naturally suit me. It was painful but conscious. I took the wheel.
To all the parents who are struggling to support their children in the current school system. Hope is not lost. (At all!) This is an opportunity for learning a valuable life long lessons. Teach them; their a player, not a victim.
My personal realisation that the system did not work for me and especially that it was never going to save or support me, gave me the opportunity to learn how to respond to this as an individual. It set me up for adulthood - one that is equally filled with structures made for a specific subset of humans. It made me a player in the game, not a victim off it.
And yes. The school system should change and talking about how it can be done better is important. But until we all have access to a new educational utopia, we need to find ways to support those very smart and capable kids that are currently stuck in this system that is convincing them they are worth nothing. All because of silly grades and metrics that likely won’t mean anything in “adult world” anyways.
Kids. It’s just a door you need to go through. Get out of it what you need and move on to better things. (But never stop learning)
Victim vs Player Mindset
This isn’t my idea. Fred Kofman presents this idea in his book, Conscious Business. I’m yet to read it but it’s on my list. Everything I’ve read/heard about it sounds great. Read some more here about Victim / Player mindset.
”The underlying difference between the two roles, according to Kofman, is where your attention is focused. When we slip into the victim role, we pay the most attention to what factors are beyond our control. When we move into the player role, we’re aware of what we can’t control, but center our attention instead on the factors and variables that are within our sphere of influence.”
Techno-Selectionism
In a world of apps it's tempting to seek out every potential technological solution to the challenges of our daily lives. Will this make lives easier, our meetings go faster, our inboxes less cluttered. Hungry for fixes, many of us are searching for the perfect tech to support our businesses and lives.
Techno-progressivism is a philosophy rooted in the belief that technology can and should be used to improve human well-being. Advocates for embracing and promoting technological advancements. It emphasises the potential of technology to address societal challenges and promote social progress. A mentality I believe most aligns with our capitalistic society.
But as we ride the continued momentum of technological advances, there are worries too. Not just about AI, which is claiming headlines, but in all fields where we are seeing continued acceleration. Take for example biotech, which is making incredible headway to some of our worlds most pressing issues. But what are the ethical implications of being able to select your child’s hight, gender or hair colour? What if we know if a 5 year old will develop heart disease when they are older. What’s stopping insurers or future employers from acquiring this information?
I’ve wondered for a while where I sit in all this. Both from a global perspective and a personal one. I’m not a techno-optimist, but I’m not a complete sceptic either. Instead, I find myself leaning towards techno-selectionism, which advocates for a thoughtful and selective adoption of technologies based on their potential benefits and risks. It promotes a balanced approach that considers both progress and the preservation of human values and natural systems.
My worry however is that I doubt we will ever have a balanced enough leadership that can insure we take this balanced approach. After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions… and all that stuff. Here is a great book to read on that.
Millennials Are Aging Like Fine Wine - lol
Recently a friend posted about her beliefs around botox etc. Or as she calls it; intervening. Which I love. I shared to post because it’s a great read and I love her perspective. Quickly after I got a lot of messages from both sides of the camp. Some agreeing with the post. Others pushing against it. I dawned on me that I had not shared my views.
Although I love my friends perspective and I agree to a certain extent. I personally love some minor tweaking. I rationalise it in numerous ways, I can’t completely frown which has a direct correlation to once mood. I’m not into skincare or pampering, so this effective science saves me on expensive creme’s and facials. (I just use sunscreen, a day serum, a night serum, an exfoliant and a retinol.) It makes me look and therefore feel better. It’s a minor thing in my mind and above all, I don’t feel it changes my natural look.
But since my father passed I’ve noticed a significant change in my appearance. Apparently, grief or bereavement releases the hormone cortisol in reaction to stress that breaks down tissue and, in excess, can lead to collagen breakdown and accelerated aging. Its obvious, even to other people. And yeah, that’s ok. Maybe there is even some beauty in that. Wearing your pain. But I have to be honest, I don’t like it. And now I am starting to think, do I need something else? It does make me wonder, what is the slippery slope of ‘intervening’. When do we go past looking like us “but better” and slide into looking like someone else — or each other.
I’m not sure where I will end up, so far I find it all kind of fun and effective. I like aging like fine wine. But I do wonder, where will we all take this as a society. What will our expectation for beauty be in the future, will we all look the same, will we start earlier and earlier and never know what we would have naturally looked like? Will it further divide the classes?
Because there is no way back, we have already truly set a new standard for what it looks like to age.
