Contrast this article with: What I was taught in school growing up.
This discussion is presented in two parts. Part One is a simple list of what I wish I was taught in school Part Two is discussion of items on the list
Part One
The LIST
What I wish I was taught In school
- How to seduce members of the opposite sex
- How to beat the shit out of anyone and
How to avoid getting beaten up - How to enjoy life, how to party and have fun
Learn to dance, play music, tell jokes and entertain others - How to learn to do #1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
- Learn to think for oneself in order
to conceive and create better things to do
Part Two
The Discussion
What I wish I was Taught in School
For me the list of subjects to be taught is very simple. They are things I learned on my own or tried to learn. Having these subjects taught from the very beginning of schooling would have made a huge difference in my education and my life. And I believe every student whether male or female would also benefit as well as the society composed of such individuals.
These subjects are taught from the first grade on. They are tailored for the age and capabilities of the students as they grow up. The top four subjects are discussed next.
First subject: How to learn:
I was never taught how to learn anything in school or outside of school. I was expected to learn various subjects but how that was actually to be accomplished was never explicitly stated. Sometime in high school I realized my approach to learning German or Latin was very different from my approach to mathematics. And that was about all I thought about it.
Only much later did I realize that the first thing to look at when learning a new subject was to think about was what, why and how. What am I going to learn, Why am I learning this and How best to accomplish it..
This is true of all subjects you take up to learn.
To get the most out of the time and energy you devote to doing something requires paying attention. The first thing to learn is to learn how to learn and that involves learning how to think (third subject on this list) about learning.
In addition to thinking being essential to learning you will probably do some reading also. Reading is one of the basic skills. Along with thinking, practicing, paying attention and integrating. It will take time to learn their basics but once you have each new subject will easier and quicker to absorb. Which means you’ll have more fun and you’ll want to explore all kinds of subjects. Anything you’re interested in benefits from learning how to learn it.
My performance in so many of the things I did in high school suffered from this lack of attention. Take track and field. How to run as a subject never came up. You would think the track and field coach would show films of famous track stars and discuss the differences in how athletes actually run and what science has to say about the best, most efficient, most effective way to run.
So many aspects to learning. Make it fun, make it effective.
So what would be the first subject of how to learn? That would be how to learn how to learn.
What, why and how.
Every subject, every activity improved from the first grade on. Learn how to finger-paint, tether ball, soccer, golf, crazy eights, chess, cribbage, poker, darts, chemistry, sex, cooking, sleeping, singing, inventing, entertaining, graduating, partying and so on.
Next subject: Self Defense:
This subject starts out as basic physical fitness through exercise, nutrition, and care then focuses on martial arts and other mind body activities like Tai Chi, yoga, meditation mindfulness then specific forms like Kung Fu, Judo and other eastern variations as well as western arts of boxing, wrestling and gymnastics. Lessons to compliment martial arts include learning verbal skills to avoid confrontation and assessing whether an opponent can beat you and retreating escaping from losing situations. Students are taught to avoid violence if possible, to retreat if facing a superior opponent, to use verbal techniques to control outcomes.
Again girls and boys from a very young age are treated equally. Real skills are taught and learned and practiced. Self reliance and confidence in the face of intimidation, threats or bullying are the rewards of mastering these ancient skills for both men and women.
Next subject: How to think (for yourself)
Begins with learning to value oneself, that one’s thoughts and feelings are equal to any one else’s. Learn the types of thinking, reasoning, intuition, imagination, contemplation. Visual, auditory, kinesthetic. Learn basics through learning and playing games. Learning rules and the need for them, strategy, tactics, history. All kinds of games, chess, checkers, poker, dice, etc. . Learn clear and logical thinking through logic and strategy games. Then recognizing specious and fallacious reasoning and argumentation and how to deal with those who use such strategies. Upper grades learn to debate, speak publicly, how to convince, explain, encourage, entertain. Classes cover the history of thought, philosophy and science through the ages.
And probably
The most
Important
Of all
Subject four How to seduce the opposite sex:
That subject title is a bit of a misnomer because what would be taught are social skills. The ability for not only men and women to appreciate each other and work together but groups of people: nations, religions, corporations, races to get along to accommodate each other, even accept each other as equals. Because if we don’t change the human race will destroy itself and probably the planet as well.
You can’t have a small percentage of the population living well and the majority hungry, diseased and trapped in poverty. You can’t have a rapacious, unbridled capitalism be the dominant economic paradigm, stripping the earth’s limited resources in pursuit of short term profit and ill-gotten gains at the expense of health, sustainability, beauty and peace.
Right from the start of schooling boys and girls need to engage in team activities with special attention to breaking down sexual stereotypes, biases, prejudices and misconceptions about the opposite sex and attitudes. Equal but different. Social skills, interactive activities, role playing as well as confidence and performance abilities to be able to engage, entertain and empathize with others. Dealing with bullies, cheats, liars, trolls and con artists. Later grades focus on relationships, intimacy, pleasure and satisfaction.
Recognizing and knowing yourself and knowing what you need in a partner. Appreciation for the opposite sex. Equality and freedom but different. Accepting love wherever it can be found without prejudice, hate or injustice.
That summarizes the big 4 of what I wish I was taught in school growing up:
How to learn,
Self Defense,
How to Think
and Social Skills
There are innumerable activities and subjects worth learning and practicing. You can’t learn them all. There are limits.
Time is the one of the most valuable and enigmatic non renewable resource that is available to human beings. You have only so much time in your life. You are born. You will die. How much time you have and when your life will end is indeterminate until you are so close to the end that there isn’t enough time to make a difference.
Time, your lifetime. Use it well. Learn to make the most of it.
If you can’t think of what to learn, the following are activities or subjects I think are useful or complementary to a life well lived.
Play a team sport
Basketball, soccer, hockey, baseball, cricket, rugby etc.
Practice and perform in individual sports
Track and Field, tennis, golf, skiing, skating, bicycling, gymnastics, swimming, boxing, etc
Participate in the Performing arts
Play a musical instrument, join a band or group, sing, dance, acting, comedy etc.
Entertainment is going to be very big in the future.
Learn how to make money, be self sufficient, saving, investing, business, value, exchange. Have saleable skills. Be involved with up and coming activities.
Practice and perform an intelligent approach to being creative in all aspects of your life. Use your imagination, intuition, energy, spirit and emotion elegantly, aesthetically, effectively and surprisingly to make your life amazing, challenging, satisfying and fun. Learn how things work mechanically, electrically, chemically, biologically, scientifically so you can create new designs, novel devices.
Understand why, what, when and how people behave. The biases, psychology, sociology of individual men, women and children as well as group dynamics.
Learn a foreign language
Start young