Imagination and Curiosity Crushed, But What do You Think?

I read an interesting article a while back with Michio Kaku, and I would like to add a bit of it and then get your opinions.

If you take a look at our educational system, you'll realize that all of us are born scientists. All of us are born wondering why does the sun shine? Where did I come from? What's out there? How big is the world anyway? All of us are born scientists until we hit the danger years. When we hit about 13, 14, 15, those are the danger years and we start to lose these young scientists left and right. So, by the time they graduate from high school, we have only a tiny, tiny fraction of the original 100% of young people who are born scientists. They drop like flies. What's wrong?

Well, many things are wrong. But among that is the way that we teach science. We teach science as a list of facts and figures to memorize and we crush, literally crush, any curiosity and spirit of innovation and imagination from young children. For example, my daughter once took the New York State Regional Exam. She took the exam in geology, and I had a chance to tutor her by looking at this manual. And I realized that the entire manual consisted mainly of memorizing the names of crystals, the names of minerals, hundreds of them, and of course, all the things that you are going to forget the day after your exam. So, it's not that our students are stupid, they can memorize these things. They are so smart. They've figured out that this material is totally useless. Our students are so smart they’ve figured out they're never going to see these things ever again. They just have to memorize it once in their life, throw away their book, and they're absolutely right. They will never, ever see these hundreds of minerals, crystals, again in their life.

bigthink.com...

The largest crime in my opinion is the suppression of the unknown. Its not that the information is not available, its just not taught. Between ghosts, UFO's, NDE's, etc., we use the science that we are taught and not the imagination that we were born with.

Many people still think that the latest iPhone is the best tech we have.... that of course is no where near true, but the mind of some has been conditioned enough to think that what we are taught is fact, and the smarter (diploma wise) that you are, the more you know.

So I ask, if you were to take your mind to the innocent days where curiosity ran a muck, what do you think we are capable of? TRULY capable of. It can be technology, or even the powers of humans. Take your imagination, and sure add a bit of science if necessary, but mostly what are some of the things that you still ask yourself.... Hmm I think we can do that.

Here is a little Einstein quote that puts the thread into perspective.

"If a theory cannot be explained to a child, then the theory is probably worthless."

Peace, NRE.

Sad but true... SnF

And they shall try to discredit Michio Kaku on this theory to perpetuate their false beliefs\perceptions...

Einstein's qoute kind of nails it right there, this guys know what they're talking about...

Thanks for that enlightening read...

Peace

I agree with him 100%. I loved science when I was a young child, we did a lot of hands on work. As I got older, it became memorize this and memorize that. I think what he said is true for every single class being taught. I did it and I watch kids everyday do it, the memorize what they need for a text and then it's gone. I think all the information goes right into our short term memory. I love to watch him, sometime he is so passionate, you can feel it. Thanks for making this thread!

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


i believe what einstein said was more along the lines of if you cannot teach something to a child you dont truly understand it yourself

but yeah education in this country and most of the world is absolutely abysmal

In Taylor Caldwell's novel "Dialogues With The Devil" Archangel Lucifer explains to Archangel Michael that Hell is not a place of physical torture, but ultimately of everlasting boredom. Whatever desire a denizen has is immediately fulfilled. There is no sense of wonder and no struggle to discover the answer to anything. Essentially no learning curve. A system of learning that focuses too heavily on rote memorization and does not go to the next step in the process where a person is challenged to synthesize these facts and figures into a creative application of them will leave most with the grand accomplishment of merely passing the test or getting a grade. The student has to look forward to all questions answered and a lifestyle of feet up and mind in neutral as an adult.

Yes, most educational systems are outdated.

The most common form of education was developed in the early industrial era, and was a practical way of preparing young people for factory work. Uniformity, compartmentalization, respect for authority and so on. Later on we spiced it up with some consumer mentality - all very crippling for the young minds.
Studies show that children become gradually less creative the older they get, not due to natural processes, but as a result of our educational systems forcing them to repeat the same thought patterns over and over again. Basically the opposite of thinking outside the box.

But! That doesn't mean that a elementary school, a high school or any such institution should ever waste it time with unproven hypothesis', and especially not pseudoscientific nonsense like ghosts and NDEs. I feel sick to my stomach just from hearing such an absurd suggestions.

Children should be taught what we know for sure, we just need to change the way it is taught.

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
The largest crime in my opinion is the suppression of the unknown. Its not that the information is not available, its just not taught. Between ghosts, UFO's, NDE's, etc., we use the science that we are taught and not the imagination that we were born with.

No one can supress the unknown, cause they wouldn't be aware of it. They can supress the known, which might be the case with some things. They can stop you from exploring the unknown, but why would they(?).
But most likely they are just trying to teach you that in order to understand, evaluate and judge claims, such as the excistense ghosts, WE ALSO NEED DATA! AND PROOF! AND EVIDENCE!!!!!! Not just our imagination.

A sick animal is no longer curious, same with people.

Curiosity is why we learn.

My son wondered where food went and what happened to it after he swallowed it.
Once we got past the hilarity of bowel movements, he wanted to know more....
...so I explained as well as I could from my A level Biology and what I had learned since.
Now he understands roughly how food is broken down into building blocks for metabolic processes,
right down to respiration and ATP synthesis.
He loves the water molecule because it looks like mickey mouse and because of this I was able to explain Hydrogen bonds and why water behaves like it does, In solid, liquid and gaseous form.

Children can learn anything if they are interested.

Awaken their curiosity and the possibilities for the future are limitless.

Crush it and we end up with an apathetic society, like we have now.

absolutley agree with the poster above, the day society gives up on learning is the day the path to the apocalypse happens, if it hasn't already.

tell your kids to get as much knowledge onboard as possible esp at an age when knowledge is absorbed like a sponge.

Regards...

Originally posted by sirhumperdink
reply to post by NoRegretsEver

 

i believe what einstein said was more along the lines of if you cannot teach something to a child you dont truly understand it yourself

but yeah education in this country and most of the world is absolutely abysmal

Much closer to the actual quote, but it didn't involve a child at all.

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Einstein


That doesn't mean that the memorization isn't needed and it's taken out of context in this particular instance. It means that once you DO understand something through a process of learning, you should be able to explain it simply to show that you have understanding of it. It's not that all knowledge should be summed up in tiny little tidbits for all to fully comprehend upon hearing the tidbit

When is the last time you have gone outside to stare at clouds? Being able to see abstract images in clouds is great for the creative process. Among many things.

On the subject of our youth's education, yes they learn via memorization. I believe that's just how the masters want it to be. Listen and repeat. Listen and obey. Do not do any critical thinking and take information at face value as correct.

I knew a kid in the first grade who memorized the capitals of every state. That helped him later in life because the act of memorization was ingrained into him at an early age, allowing him to memorize things a lot easier. He took the capitals and, as a natural extension of that, was able to memorize other facets of geography better......like the distances between those cities. From there, he was better able to calculate travel times, costs, and everything else you can imagine that is involved with the transportation industry.

This kid grew up to be successful in that area, and it all started with the memorization of cities. Compartmentalizing knowledge like what he did doesn't have to be a bad thing if it's not used simply as a tool. As a means to an end. But that's exactly how it's being used in the current educational system. As a means to get a passing grade. This is why my daughter excels at that which bores her to tears. School. She doesn't know it yet but she never will fit in well with the box that society constructs for us.

Somewhere along the line people forgot the importance of continual learning. They just don't see the point anymore. The want to learn has been replaced with the mindset that you need to learn. And only then, just certain things. If it falls out of the peripheral view that society has, it doesn't matter.That kills the natural curiosity we were all born with because people just don't feel the need anymore. It's dictated to them.

It's like the old saying........the will to survive won't keep you alive if you've gotta go out and find it.....you gotta feel it.

I often wonder how me and my mind would have come along, if I was not born into and raised up in poverty and strife. We moved 4 times before I turned 7. It was like being raised by mentally ill homeless people.

Technology feels like chains, and children have their chains fitted early. I hate beaurcratic BS and that is the oil that lubricates the cogs of the machine, which sucks children in and turns them into controlled robots of society imprisioned in all its ugly institutions.

Very good awareness OP. I believe science is just a tool for trying to explain things, no more and no less. So much of science is misapplied or used to suppress the truth that it makes me sick. This most often is done not by the researchers but by people who try to boost their ego and prestige. What we know is a billionth of what there is to know.

Sometimes I get down on science because I do not see a relationship with need to what is spent on it. The things we need to know are underfunded while the things that were made glamorous by science but have no peaceful or practical use by us have lots of funding and tie up our greatest minds on things that are unnecessary. Needs and wants are not nearly the same.

To discount things because they do not fit into perspective of the time is not good but to spend more on unneeded research is also a waste. Knowledge and pride cloak perception. If you know a lot about geology you cannot see that a rock was carved unless it is a perfect carving depicting something you know. We see what we know in everything. We can also see what we believe is there also. Most things can be explained but to explain them with evidence that is not pertinent is also wrong. A nuclear physicist cannot usually work on a car. An archeologist has been trained to see what the science sees. Some sciences crossover somewhat into other sciences but the specifics of every science is different. The application of a word is different also and many times there are different words for the same thing in different scientists. The English language is so complicated, including all it's scientific languages, that it is starting to get unintelligable. Einstein said to keep things simple, I believe that is the best way myself.

Science most times takes things too far apart and fails to see the whole picture. H20 is not water, good water is a very complex molecule that gives us nutrition. H20 is more of a medicine that can help a person detox. If we drink it continuously we will die. If we drink too much good water we will also get screwed up. We cannot take things apart and neglect the whole picture. We are here to learn, to enjoy life without causing harm to nature or others reality. We are not here to work ourselves to death all our life, we are not here to build an Ego. The paranormal is here to entertain us, not always to be explained.

Sorry for getting off topic.