My overlord's dream

A concerned citizen should apply the majority of his learning and actions directly to his immediate community and that should be how we value them: not be in a socio-cultural context where many eyes bear down on their grades since a young age and give them the wrong impression that grades count for most if not all they are worth. And that grades are more important than being concerned.

A truly self-directed learner will one day learn to and should be able to question fully and articulate his doubts fully in an intellectual and civil manner without any authoritative repurcussion lest he intrudes upon the freedom of others to do whatever they so please with their person and/or property. We should all agree to disagree and defend each other's rights to do so with our lives.

An active contributer should be nurtured to work in teams from young and not engage in academically-based competitions to outdo each other so as to acquire the best sources of income-generation for the comfort of they and their loves ones. They should be taught and shown that win-win situations can exist and there need not necessarily always be losers in life.

A confident person should not be bred in an elitist culture lest he mistakes status for worth and the right to be arrogant. Confidence is and should always remain as self-sufficiency not arrogance.

In the above 4 paragraphs, I have outlined the fundamental mismatches between what my overlord wishes to accomplish and our drive for excellence. Excellence is of course not a crime. But our current socio-cultural and educational environment gives students the impression that personal excellence is vital, namely academic excellence. Purpose should always remain our focus and excellence,be it technological/medical/economical, are merely our tools in order to reach purpose. what is the purpose of education? EDUCATION is the purpose of education. It is an intellectual expansion of the mind to the human condition. And with such knowledge comes the moral responsibility to take moral action. Education is not a system to produce and recognise individuals who achieve personal excellence.