Bob Poole asked me about my take on America’s educational system and in my attempt to provide him with a coherent response, I blew a gasket. It popped out of my left ear. I have no idea how to put it back. Where the hell does it even go? (I don’t think I have enough cash in my account to hire a mechanic, either.)

I decided to give it pride of place on top of the TV set. It’s kind of a memento, you know? Of frustration.

When I first watched Sir Ken’s TED presentation I just about burst into tears. I was lucky, man. I went to a great school that had a pretty reasonable slot in the budget for arts and theater. (What? You didn’t know I was an arts & theater kid? Have you even been paying attention?) Oh, there were boxes, there was plenty of math and science and there was plenty of “You’d be a Good Kid IF…” But I made out better than most. I was educated in a private, Catholic institution for almost all of my pre-university schooling—there were nuns. There were a lot of smart people, too.

I can’t even grasp what most kids grow up with these days. Kids in public schools deal with way more bullshit than I can even really grasp. (My one year in public school in seventh grade was QUITE enough for me, thanks.) I hear more horror stories about misguided teachers wantonly crushing the spirits of brilliant, creative, unorthodox-and-amazing children than you could shake a stick at. But it’s the school system I want to shake a stick at. Because we’re all but living in the dark ages with this industrial crap. We’re not training kids to work in factories anymore, people. They need to be prepared for the real world—the one we have now, and the one after that, and the one after that. They need to be flexible and wise. They need to be strong and compassionate and brave. They need to be warriors of the soul, leaders who take us forward, voices that challenge us to grow.

And we’re teaching them to put down their brains and do everything the same.

It makes me itch all over just thinking about it. And I could rant forever, but I’m going to stop here and point you to Bob’s post (wherein the rest of my diatribe is contained). Go read what we had to say.

You haven’t seen the end of this one.

This afternoon I read Chris Guillebeau’s A Brief Guide to World Domination: How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World. I strongly suggest downloading the PDF from the link he provides, and reading it. Right now. (Or, you know. Soon.)

Here’s my notes redux…

• You don’t have to do what other people say you have to do.
• There’s no point in saving your crazy for close friends. Tell everybody. (The polarization effect is incredibly liberating… and revealing.)
• I know a disturbing number of unremarkably average people. I guess you do too. I am alarmed and dissatisfied with this realization. Let’s print this book out and give them a copy. Deal?
• Working backwards, and my life’s “set point”. I have always speculated on working backwards, but it sometimes takes time to pin down the thing you really want (and sometimes that thing will change). It occurred to me while reading (thanks, Chris!) that working backwards can very much be like changing your life’s “set point”—having the life you want and being unwilling to give it back, so therefore making all the right things happen that allow you to keep it. Think about where you are right now. Where I am now, I would find living without a computer completely unacceptable. And I have 3+ computers in my life that prove I’m capable of making sure I get to live that way, regardless of financial circumstances and whathaveyou. Tons of people who are perfectly happy live without computers. What if I found living without a yacht completely unacceptable? Interesting train of thought.
• Ignore anyone who tells you that you can’t have both. I don’t care what “both” refers to. They’re wrong.
  
• “The world is in short supply of truth-tellers.” Chris says, and I agree: The world is desperate for the simple truth. This man is not putting you on. We are lied to so much. The truth is bent and slanted and side-stepped in so many different ways, every moment of our lives. Our entire culture is built on a system that rewards conformity rather than truth. If you’re willing to tell the truth—for real—you’re ahead of the game. That is so, so important. Wake up, y’all.
• He was talking about gatekeepers, and all I could think of was college. In college I was constantly coming up against some rule or customary practice that was different than what I wanted to do. This is how you proceed in higher education. This is how you become well-known as a singer. This is how you advance your career. This is how you go on to sing in an opera house. This is how you build your website, this is how you dress, this is how you talk. It’s bullshit, guys. I have tremendous respect for the people who have made their careers following those rules, but it’s still bullshit. There is more than one right way to do anything in the world. I promise. Do NOT let them tell you otherwise.
• It’s everywhere. Kill it with fire. So many people think the rules have to be followed, even when they’re convinced they’re not actually following them. It’s embedded into our upbringing, into everything we encounter. This kind of thinking is so brainwashingly prevalent that it’s a shock to the system when someone pulls out of it. All you have to do is be brave. All you have to do is push. And because most people don’t… you’re suddenly in the front, making waves.

Just… do something. Stop talking about it and try. When you stop just talking and start doing things, you’ll be amazed at what begins to happen. Your whole life changes.

Go read this book. It’s short. It’s easy. It will take almost no effort (and Chris writes awesomely). Spend half an hour and improve your entire life.