Paradox of Vigor

This is a paper that I wrote a few months ago about replacing current systems of education. It could definitely use a lot of improvement, including a full treatise and how my proposed system should be implemented, but everyone whose read it so far has found it quite interesting and at least reasonable. Worst case scenario it serves as a good topic of discussion. This is Part 1:

Every day people’s innermost talents and dreams never thrive and flourish the way they could and should. This is observably because public education is a one-size fits all blanket system that covers the true talents of potential leaders, and the blanket is beginning to tear. Sooner or later the Industrial Revolution and Enlightenment ideologies from which current education was founded will diminish as the true information age manifests through the true application human intelligence. According to a personality theory known as Keirsey Temperament Theory “There are two sides to personality, one of which is temperament and the other character. Temperament is a configuration of inclinations, while character is a configuration of habits. Character is disposition, temperament pre-disposition” (Keirsey 20), and this is the viewpoint through which education should be developed. The implications of this theory illustrate foremost that there are four main types of human intelligence marked by the four main temperaments known as Artisans, Guardians, Idealists, and Rationals, but a keener eye reveals that all the types are designed to play their own unique role in a constantly growing society. Because of that I’ve created an unorthodox idea that models education systems after the people in them rather than the economic systems thereof. Since this is unfortunately a surprisingly unique perspective, I’ve given to think of this perspective as a radical architect of society that aims to forge the altered and matured version of the Information Age. Furthermore the chief concerns in any society lie in four main categories corresponding perfectly with the four main temperaments. In that, I see that political decisions usually have four unspoken set criteria when judging any idea or proposal, reflecting the values of a society. We must know whether or not it is obeys the law, is logical, ethical, and feasible. If these four things are true then there is nothing wrong with the idea, but if any one of those questions is answered negatively, either the idea or criterion must adapt, or be disregarded altogether. Either way, this allows for immense flexibility due to its simplistic nature, ensuring that the system would never break due to constant or increased stresses from swift changes, and that it is also strong enough to make sure that every new idea or policy change within politics meets universal acceptance without the more petty forms of bias we see with current political parties. Hence, through Keirsey Temperament Theory is how both education and politics should be founded.

As said, public education is a one-size fits all system that weakens itself and those under it. Creative kids do not create. Intellectual kids do not think. Idealistic kids do not make a difference. Responsible kids do not respond. All these things in which people are specifically talented can only be seen in their true light well after post-secondary education, even though they are designed to thrive in one of these roles by default. Instead they are bound with a set of standards and rigid criteria to pass a public education system in which they learn things that have nothing to do with their inborn talents, and since this is then the area of focus, their predisposed and natural focuses are redirected toward an inapplicable plethora of boring information that merely tests work ethic, rather than the general claim of actual intelligence. The very words “intelligence” and “education” haven’t even reached a proper consensus among the academic realm anywhere in the world. Just observe the words of Earl Hunt “Fluid intelligence is the ability to develop techniques for solving problems that are new and unusual, from the perspective of the problem solver. Crystallized Intelligence is the ability to bring previously

acquired often culturally defined, problem-solving methods to bear on the current problem. Note that this implies both that the problem solver knows the methods and recognizes that they are relevant in the current situation. Visual-spatial reasoning is a somewhat specialized ability to use visual images and visual relationships in problem solving --for instance, to construct in your mind a picture of the sort of mental space that I described above in discussing factor- analytic studies. Interestingly, visual-spatial reasoning appears to be an important part of understanding mathematics” (Hunt). The underlying concept that intelligence is a largely subjective matter should make anyone weary of what the students are being taught and why, but people don’t much care because it seems to “work”, and that has been the problem from the beginning. During the construction of our education system throughout the Industrial Revolution, it was being modeled with the intellectual culture and philosophies of the enlightenment and economic circumstances therein. At that time, all that was needed was a functional education system, one that would be designed much like a factory line of students separated by age group, which is not on par with human psychology. While age might be a general and rough measurement of aptitude within certain intelligences, it is not the sole determinant, and so those who are not in the center of the crudely defined spectrum of intelligence suffer in correspondence with the extremity of their case. Let us not forget that the primary emphasis within every secondary education system in the United States is on the math and sciences, “The establishment of national testing and standardizing agencies and many other turn-of-the-century developments in schooling were related to the growing faith in and reliance upon science” (Foner and Garraty), which solely stress the ability to use logic and self-control to understand complex scientific concepts. Now that does not sound bad at first, but under a psychological microscope it is no better than a tragedy.

It is of no doubt that the stereotypical “troublemaker” in school has in its sight the Artisan character type; a type who wants to be excited by nature and excels in the arts in all of its forms. But since schools insist on making a near mockery of the arts, this 40 or so percent of the population’s true talents are suppressed by a self-controlled, and boring to them, type of discipline. “In school Artisans tend to be interested in artcrafts, where they can practice the required techniques. SPs can appear to be dull, and even bored, when asked to study business(particularly clerical matters), or the humanities, or science and technology, but give them the opportunity to practice any of the arts or crafts and watch them shine” (Keirsey 44). Likewise, once these little Artisans can’t get away with as much being a troublemaker in junior high and high school in order for them to simply entertain themselves they turn into the stereotypical “sleepers” in class, that are more often asleep than awake in class discussions that usually bore them to no end. So instead of giving them something constructive to do with their hands and letting them be the hedonists they were born to be, we force them to sit down and listen in an analogue and disengaging classroom to a bunch of inapplicable dull information that will do no good for anyone but themselves only so that they can learn more in the next grade level. The majority of the concepts introduced as early as in pre-algebra are utterly worthless in real life, and they aren’t afraid to let their teachers know what they really think about that either, as they are usually the ones to speak up on such matters. The only mathematics to them, and realistically, that are applicable are the most basic they learned long before from arithmetic, which would later be used in financial matters, with the exception of a few basic equations for more advanced purposes. Imagine a world without art; a world without music, paintings, TV shows, movies, videogames, books, photography, choreography, sculptures, media, comedy, and all the other things that we enjoy on an everyday basis. Since these fields and professions are difficult to get into and often require yet another degree beyond high school, most Artisans do not ever even get to see what they could have potentially done for the world. Think of all the lost compositions, the many diverse forms of art that we never get to see because we were all taught in school that the math’s and sciences were far more important, and that the arts mean little to nothing.