Education: A world of change
This video has actually brought to light something I've been thinking of for many years now. If you watching this video from the 3:40 mark, Lawrence Krauss echoes the very ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while.
Lawrence Krauss - Should Religion Be Taught in School? - YouTube.
The real key to changing how people think is through the education they get. Nowadays, education is uniform, bland and dogmatic. It says, 'learn this by tomorrow's exam or else...' instead of explaining the true context of the subject. How hard can it be to make a child understand that the Pythagorean Theorem is actually a great idea because it can help you become an architect or a designer or a sculptor? That algebra can help you understand the secrets of the universe? That our history has essential lessons to be learned that could affect our future?
One could say these things are obvious or that the child can figure it out himself, or leave it to the parents. But then what is the school for? A school is not just to teach kids what to learn but it also needs to teach them how to think. Teach them that everything they learn has a practical context and a possible career. Teach them that it's okay to question authority and change their minds when new information is revealed. Teach them that other human beings, no matter what race, colour, religion or gender, are worthy of peace, respect, rights and dignity.
Instead, we have a school system that promotes memorisation rather than understanding, obedience instead of curiosity, taboos rather than acceptance, segregation rather than unity, and fear instead of respect.
Of course, we can start a movement from our homes to teach our kids to question us, learn how to think critically and favour reason over superstition. But we have to take it to the central educational system too. I don't know how yet, but I'm open to ideas.It's only then that our nation will begin to open its collective mind, when people will start considering others as equals who are worthy of both respect and criticism, where hatred will dissipate with the words 'honour' and 'tradition'.
Because our children, in many ways, are wiser than us. They can be more moral than us. We have to reinforce that, learn from them and teach them how to strengthen those qualities. We have to show them the best in us so that they can some day become better than us.
That is the purpose of education after all. Isn't it?