49
May 12, 1991
EDUCATION:
Apparently most forms of life depend on instinct which
is a form of education.
When a turtle is born, it instinctively heads for the
water. Only about one in a hundred survive.
Mammals breast fed their young and taught them. With
what I call the group mammals, the young were protected by
their mother and taught by her but also the whole group acts
as a learning process. I like to think that humans are the
highest form of group mammal. In theory, we are all breast
fed and taught by the mother and protected and taught by the
group. This is not always so today, but at least until
recently a dominant force in deciding the character of the
young was the mother. Throughout recorded history this has
been frustrating to centralized authorities. Today through
modern communication, centralized authorities can dominate
the minds of the children and often, that of the mother.
Television is a miracle. Along with associated technologies,
it should make education a very easy and joyful thing.
Television does educate but the overall effect has been
disappointing.
I will now outline a more effective educational system
based on...
BREAK
(June 28, 1990) May 12, 1991
1. Formal education is rather new in the history of humans.
2. The creatures that survive did so with a combination of
instinct and experience.
3. When people were able to develop a spoken language and
later a written language, that was an earth-shaking
achievement.
4. I've noticed for years that a highly skilled worker
usually had a skilled father and a skilled grandfather. How
much of this is learned and how much is inherited, I do not
know.
5. It is now acknowleged that different parts of the motor
area of the brain are devoted to different functions. In
humans the area devoted to speech movements and hand
movements is much out of proportion, much larger than in any
other creature. So we are born with the potential of speech
and the potential of hand skills. I've talked to great
numbers of young people. I say that if you do not develop
your speech function, your ability to use your hands early,
you may never be good with communicating or with skills.
Suggestions for possibly resolving some of these problems.
1. All schools should be neighborhood schools.
2. Some schools at least should have a small factory. I
would like to see the factory sponsored by a local firm.
Student would work associated with an adult. They would be
paid for productive work. There should be a good grade of
restraunt for all those concerned. Students who cooperated
could be rewarded with special banquets where they sometimes
bring their parents or a friend. There should be a lot of
singing of songs with understandable words. There could be
special nights where relatives and friends came and all sing
together. They could sing minority songs like Spanish. They
could mix them up with English songs. The idea is that all
the parents could become proficient at English, as well as
the native tongue. Students could make their own uniforms.
Not individually, but in some sort of assembly line.
Different schools could specialize on garments or parts of
garments.
On the grounds could be a small apartment development.
People who were skillful in their trade could be favored. In
the Palo Alto area and Silicon Valley, electronic assembly
could be favored.
Health should always be a big theme. It is cheerful to
think of a factory school where nobody smoked. Students who
were uncooperative and trouble-makers could be ignored and
they would miss the action or they could be transferred to
another school. The aim would be to have students who finish
high school and have definite skills. Good speech and who
have learned to work with others. When they finish high
school and live in the neighborhood, they might work in the
factory for awhile. Especially with a parent who had a child
still in the school.
Each school could visit with other schools and exchange
skills. Fairs could be arranged where various goods were
displayed. There could be a certain amount of visiting with
students from some other schools in the area. Students could
compete with their singing ability or other forms of
entertainment. They could demonstrate their skills in
language and in a foreign language. I would particularly
like to see invitations to black schools to participate in
singing. Many blacks appear to have a natural ability in
singing. We should encourage and admire.
It always disturbs me when I read about young people who
finish high school and have no learning skills to speak of.
What have they been doing all this time. I have talked to
countless students about this. Apparently a lot of them just
fooled around or played sports or had a very intense social
life especially with the opposite sex. A lot of good that
does them when they enter that cold world.
Students could participate in a variety of other skills
but learning one skill helps to learn another. Learning one
language makes it easier to learn another.
Hopefully, my advice so far may help a lot of people.
But something more may be needed for a long and successful
life. This includes marriage with successful children and
grandchildren. It is important to become an educated person.
Leaders from other countries have been surprised at our lack
of knowledge of geography and history. Anyone can learn
geography, it is just a matter of effort. One should acquire
a general outline of history. Certain books which I will
mention later might be helpful. All students should know a
foreign language, possibly three of them. One can learn them
through tapes. The more practical education that a family
has, the more they can teach their children.
Certain hobbies are very helpful with family
communication. Such things as cooking, survival cooking I
call it, not just fancy cakes. And gardening which is
something that everybody can enjoy and enjoy it for their
whole lifetime. Working around the house with good tools is
a very useful thing.
Some people today do not bother to memorize the
multiplication tables. They depend on little computers or
something. I think everybody should learn the multiplication
tables.
Memorizing can help fluency of speech. I only memorize
things that apply to everyday life. I memorize a lot of
Shakespeare, especially the play Hamlet. I memorized a poem
recently by Wordsworth about the daffidols in central
England. The British have recently planted hundreds of
thousands of daffidols in the area that the poem alluded to.
By memorizing good things, it helps to keep the garbage out
of your memory bank. In another article I hope to outline
what an educated person should know and suggestions for
reading and memorizing.
SELF-ESTEEM AND A SHARE OF THE GLORY.
About a year or so ago, the government in Sacramento
appropriated the money and nominated a group of experts to
study self-esteem. They had decided that too many people
lacked self-esteem. This led to great variety of problems,
especially among the young. Many of us or most of us are not
able during our lifetime to do enough wonderful things to
sustain our self-esteem. However, we can sustain great joy
through self-glory. We can be proud of our country, of our
village, of our school, our factory.
On television they speak of us as the buying public, the
labor supply, good college material. Football - various
interests spend a lot of money to dominate our minds. At one
time a person could spend most of their lifetime working for
the same company. Presently, with a leavered buy-out, your
company may be bought or sold. Money managers appear to have
great power. But we are group mammals. We need some form of
shared glory to sustain ourselves. People may identify with
a professional sports team or one of it's players. In some
of the cities the young people join a gang to attempt to get
a sense of belonging. Many people I talk to feel that they
have lost control of their destiny.
