The Obligation To Amuse And Instruct Myself

You Either Learn Your Way Towards Writing Your Own Script In Life, Or You Unwittingly Become An Actor In Someone Else's Script.

It Was Never Factually True That Young People Learn To Read Or Do Arithmetic Primarily By Being Taught These Things. These Things Are Learned, But Not Really Taught At All. Over-teaching Interferes With Learning, Although The Few Who Survive It May Well Come To Imagine It Was By An Act Of Teaching.

School Presents Daily Exercises In Dis-association. It Forces Unwelcome Associations On Most Of Its Prisoners. It Sets Petty, Meaningless Competitions In Motion On A Daily Basis, Pitting Potential Associates Against One Another In Contests For Praise And Other Worthless Prizes.

Growth And Mastery Come Only To Those Who Vigorously Self-direct. Initiating, Creating, Doing, Reflecting, Freely Associating, Enjoying Privacy-these Are Precisely What The Structures Of Schooling Are Set Up To Prevent, On One Pretext Or Another.

The Truth Is That Schools Don't Really Teach Anything Except How To Obey Orders. This Is A Great Mystery To Me Because Thousands Of Humane, Caring People Work In Schools As Teachers And Aides And Administrators, But The Abstract Logic Of The Institution Overwhelms Their Individual Contributions.