[..continues from] After children begin to speak the language, they've all but mastered the inquiry-based model with a single and magical word that opens their doors of perception to the nth degree. It is this word or question that enables them to learn at such a rapid pace until they are forced into the indoctrination camps and told to shut the fuck up. At these camps is where most children lose that magical spark and twinkle in their eyes.
They get forced to be silent and stifle their questions until the end. They are required to learn things out of order. In my opinion, our willingness to learn naturally dictates what and when we should study any given topic. It is for these reasons that I feel like the school system deadened me on the inside. However, this isn't the case for everyone. When I got out of school and onto the internet, that's when my real education began.
It was then when I got back to the "whys," whos, whats, wheres, and whens. It brought me back on track to my self-directed inquiry-based learning that was all but lost all those years ago. Presently, I am so interested in learning that I almost cannot resist searching the meaning of a foreign term, word, or concept when it gets presented to me. I've become addicted to learning.
However, I notice that some people don't share the same desire. The entire library of the world's information is at their fingertips, but somehow, and in some way, they've managed to reach the end of the internet. It would be nice to be able to somehow shake people out of that mindset.
Anyhow, great article! I can see you spent a lot of time and effort writing it, and those three gems that I mentioned in the other comment are probably the most important takeaway for me, and this is especially true when it comes to valuing focus. I've got more of a tractor beam situation going on lately and, it would be nice to at will, be able to turn it into a laser beam. But it can get challenging when you're interested in all the things. Lucky for me, my aim is learning in general.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times yes.
As kids we are inquiry-virtuosos, 'why'-maestros.
And along the way, everything you outlined tends to happen. Sit down, shut up, stop inquiring, do what we're told, etc.
It can certainly make it challenging for a bright young person to maintain their beliefs, moods, and focus effectively. (But it is technically doable.)
Anyway, I'm glad you're aware of all this, and pursuing learning in your own ways (whether tractor-beam or laser.)
Kudos, sir! 👌
(Also that Louie clip was hilarious, and the child put on a fantastic performance, somehow making a single word say so much more with each repetition.)