America, Education, and the True Power of the Mind

For a couple of weeks now, I've been seeing this trailer for a movie called, "Limitless." The premise of the film is that some guy has a chip that allows us humans to access the full capacity of our brains. In the opening line of the trailer, the main character utters something like, "You know how they say you only use 20% of your brain? This let's you access all of it." I found this to be very interesting, because hollywood knows things...and drops hints all the time. But, that is another can of worms for another blog entry.

The reason I mentioned "Limitless" is because I believe that there was a time when human beings did have access to the whole brain, and thus, full function of the mind. I know, I am constantly referencing Kemet (ancient Egypt), but just look at what they were able to accomplish thousands of years ago. Of course there were the Pyramids, but also consider their contributions in science, mathematics, writing and civilization.

This brings me to the question of why we are so (for lack of a better word) stupid, these days. Let me start with the adults. Now, I can only speak for the United States at this point, because I haven't been too many places outside of the country yet. Most American adults wake up, go to work five days a week, live for the weekend, eat, sleep, complain, live above their means with luxury items while struggling to pay bills, etc. We live in a nation of zombies. Whenever I see a cemetery, I always wonder about the bodies in the ground, and whether the lives of their inhabitants had any real impact or real purpose on this earth. Many Americans are so caught up in their pursuit of the "American Dream," that they forget to dream for themselves. So many people work their fingers to the bone every day. In many cases, this is not just to gain the necessities of life, but to obtain many of the luxuries which are pushed to us every day in this consumer-driven culture of American capitalism.

The esoteric knowledge that these hollywood types possess is also possessed by political leaders, many religious leaders, and other wealthy members of the elite class. The problem is that only a small few people hold this knowledge. The rest of us are kept in the dark. Unlike our Kemetian ancestors, most modern people rely on religious dogma rather than a personal, spiritual connection with the divine. These days, most of us are brainwashed from the day we leave the womb.

This brings me to children. In a conversation with my students the other day (I teach high school), we talked about the American school system, and the problems therein. One of their major beefs is that they are forced to learn content in school that they do not need in life. My argument was that these disciplines are all necessary and relevant, but the curriculum teaches these things in ways that are very irrelevant and of no real substance. For example, I shared with them the fact that I was terrible in Algebra II in high school. However, I later realized that all algebra is is logic and problem solving. You need those same skills of reasoning in real life.

The reason kids don't understand this is because subjects are not taught holistically. In other words, all of the subjects in academia are connected, and separating them completely is a mistake. When I student taught history in a traditional classroom setting, I made sure to incorporate language arts, mathematics and science. Not only are all academic subjects related, but these subjects are all related to spirituality. Understanding (overstanding and innerstanding) the world and the universe requires knowledge of Science, Mathematics, Language, and History. These are also all vital components for us African people to truly begin to know who we are.

The problem with this education system, is that it tries to take the classical academic model of teaching multiple disciplines, and conform it to fit the purpose of modern American education. This purpose is the production of workers. If we are aiming to fully educate all children, then why is educational achievement measured by rote memorization on bullshit standardized tests. Why is it that this society's determinant of being educated is a piece of paper (such as a diploma or degree ) which is also an economic commodity, and will have a huge bearing on your lot in life on this planet? If you want to produce workers, fine. It's called apprenticeships and trade schools. Why even require high school?

Why not have the "thinkers" of society (such as myself) go to high school and college and pontificate all day about all of the academic disciplines in great detail? The measure of academic success wouldn't be some piece of paper used as currency. The measuring stick would be the progression, and evolution (for lack of a better word) of society in general. Now I am not proposing a caste system or anything where you can't get classically educated if you're not in a certain class nor am I proposing a system at all. I do not have the answers. I just see what doesn't make sense about the current system, and I am pointing it out.

Although I haven't come up with my own system, I do propose changes to the system we have. First, I would radically change curricula in all US schools. I would develop ways to bring out the relevance in all academic subject matter, and connections that they all have to one another. Then, I would change the way teachers are trained. I personally didn't learn jack shit about teaching from the University that gave me my degree. Everything I know about teaching, I learned from doing it. There are a lot of dumbass teachers out here, and a lot of teachers who don't give a shit about our children. That has to stop. The third thing I propose is that we do not assess the success of schools based on standardized testing. Instead, we assess them on how successful their students become in life years down the line. I can tell you, however, that politicians will never go along with that because they can't win elections based off of that type of long term thinking. Therefore, the instant gratification approach of standardized testing will, unfortunately, still be used despite its detriment to true education.

In closing, modern day America is a graveyard of wandering zombies thanks to our education system, media, and economic system. The fact that we've been zombified is no accident. There are people who want things to be just the way they are right now. It is time for us to wake the hell up, and make some real progress in this life so that our time upon this earth won't be wasted. Let's take back the natural power with which we were born! I am on this journey with you.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and until next time, peace & blessings