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“How are you going to meet life when you have passed through here and are so-called educated? Do you want to be swallowed up by the society, the culture in which you live, or are you going to oppose it, revolt against it, which will be a reaction and not a total action? Are you going to step into the easy way of life, conform, imitate, adjust to the pattern, whatever that pattern be, whether it be the establishment, or an establishment of a different kind, and so on? Or are you going to be a totally different human being, who is aware and knows he has to meet adversity and opposition and that, therefore, there is no easy way to satisfaction? Because most of us want a life of ease, of comfort, without trouble, which is almost impossible. And if you do meet opposition, will you run away from it?”

J. Krishnamurti

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Education systems have some significant flaws, but I am not sure we speak about the effect a flawed education system has on a citizenry psychologically often enough.

If you look at a lot of research these days, you will see many people are feeling skepticism in the value of education and, in particular, college. This whole discussion then seems to devolve into a simplistic argument between the haves and the have nots – the stupid people versus the non-stupid people (or, less harshly, the unenlightened versus the enlightened). It devolves into a suggestion of ‘brains versus no brains’. It’s, well, dumb.

On that thought I would argue there is no link between population and intelligence (research even says there isn’t) or even a link between geography and intelligence. What I would suggest is that a sense of ‘fatalism’ affects the potential of one’s intelligence. In other words, dormant intelligence – due to fatalism – is simply wasted potential.

Let me explain Fatalism in 2 parts

 

Fatalism version 1.

If you are in white middle class, you may expect to get a little more simply by standing still where you are, therefore,

you believe any extraneous variables are irrelevant to that ‘more’.  This may psychologically encourage you to believe if you ‘stand still, save energy & resources’ you will be fine. Now. Most people throw a lot of stuff into the ‘stand still.’ They work a regular job, take care of their home, are involved in family & community in some way and, well, you get it. The ‘stand still’ is simply a metaphor for ‘taking care of Life as it exists.’

This is where fatalism rears its ugly head.

Education and learning doesn’t work this way. Standing still means, well, getting ‘dumber.’ <to be harsh>. Knowledge is constantly evolving, morphing and reconfiguring what you know today, as it exists in totality, will be obsolete tomorrow. Yet, we have sold in education as ‘preparation for life’ in a world in which most people are just trying to keep their heads above water with everyday responsibilities. Re-engaging with ‘what you learned’ and finding its obsolete suggests the system failed you. This feeling gets exacerbated by the fact there are  people constantly engaged and learning so a perceived, and sometimes real, knowledge gap increases between those investing in learning and those who are not. Please note that this is not about smarts, intelligence or IQ, more often it is about real Life choices – disengaging from the grind of the day & Life, or not.

The fatalism is found in the thought that education is not an effective preparation for Life (particularly a higher education where dollar ROI steps in). This decreases its perceived value. At exactly the same time the brain (people) seek to have a value equation in their heads (assessing investment & return). What I mean by that is as the education value decreases, ‘common sense’ or practical experience (or, simplistically, not having a higher education) increases in perceived value. And. This value assessment has a halo effect not only to education itself but to those who elect the other path, gaining that education, and devaluing the people who do invest in education.

In other words.

If the education system failed me (and I am smart), it has little value not only to me but to other people … but at least I was smart enough to not invest as much energy as that other elitist dupe.

 

There is little faith in the system, therefore, there is a certain fatalism built into actually participating in the system.

 

Fatalism version 2.

If you are poor, you expect no matter how hard you work, no matter how much education you get, your circumstances are not likely to change significantly. And you know what? They are right. Regardless. While almost everyone knows a good education is an appealing choice to get out of your circumstances, most people actually view it in a gambler’s assessment way.

But this belief by the poor has seeped into the consciousness of white working class (lower middle income segment).

“The enduring narrative of the American dream is that if you study and get a college education and work hard, you can get ahead. The survey shows that many white working-class Americans, especially men, no longer see that path available to them. … It is this sense of economic fatalism, more than just economic hardship, which was the decisive factor in support for Trump among white working-class voters.”

Robert P. Jones, the CEO of PRRI

This is NOT an intelligence issue. I can say that maybe less than 3% of all Americans have IQs lower than 70 <which is a line for mentally challenged> and we know that the average <or the mean> is somewhere around 100 which means, well, the significant majority of Americans are certainly capable ‘being smart.’ This would suggest the system is failing capable people. Heck. Even Americans in the middle class who attend college exhibit profound ignorance:

A report in 2007 published by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute found that on average 14,000 randomly selected college students at 50 schools around the country scored under 55 (out of 100) on a test that measured their knowledge of basic American civics. Less than half knew that Yorktown was the last battle of the American Revolution. Surprisingly, seniors often tested lower than freshmen. (The explanation was apparently that many students by their senior year had forgotten what they learned in high school.)

On the basis of their comprehensive approach, Delli Carpini and Keeter concluded that only 5% of Americans could correctly answer three-fourths of the questions asked about economics, only 11% of the questions about domestic issues, 14% of the questions about foreign affairs, and 10% of the questions about geography. The highest score? More Americans knew the correct answers to history questions than any other. Still, only 25% knew the correct answers to three-quarters of the history questions, which were rudimentary.

 

In 2003, the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad investigated Americans’ knowledge of world affairs. The task force concluded: “America’s ignorance of the outside world” is so great as to constitute a threat to national security.

Look. This topic matters as we think about how to speak with people. I will say that among the dozens of research studies post-2016 election I found some number about the working class and education that made me sit up a little and think.

In an analysis by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic 54% of white working-class Americans said investing in college education is a risky gamble, including 61% of white working-class men.

(I will note that white working-class voters who held this belief were almost twice as likely as their peers to support Trump)

In addition. Those with right-leaning political beliefs were the most likely to think college unnecessary. When it came to income, the middle classes did not think college was necessary, while the poorest and the wealthiest respondents still thought it did. Results to this question also varied according to race: 60% of Hispanics still think college is necessary; compared with 51% of blacks and 44% of whites.

Let me suggest two aspects with regard to Fatalism version 2:

  • Failure in the system
  • Hope in the system

If you believe the system has failed you in some way, you look down on the people who may have benefited from the system (they had an advantage you didn’t have) as well as doubt the system.

If you see the system as a stepping stone for the future, you place hope in the system (flaws and all).

One has given up and the other hasn’t.

One sees it as misplaced trust, and hope, and the other places hope in the system and, therefore, trusts it in some form or fashion.

I would suggest where you and on the failure/hope spectrum decides your fatalism.

 

Regardless. I have one word to conclude with in addressing this fatalism– context.

The fact is we, the people, may not have changed that much BUT the world around us has – & demands something different from us (and, consequently, the education system).

Contrary to expectations, by many measures the surveys showed the level of ignorance remaining constant over time:

In the 1990s, political scientists Michael X. Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter concluded that there was statistically little difference between the knowledge of the parents of the Silent Generation of the 1950s, the parents of the Baby Boomers of the 1960s, and American parents today (y some measures, Americans are dumber today than their parents of a generation ago.)

If our ignorance has not changed, one would have to assume our fatalism is actually a failure not necessarily in the system itself, but rather in our lack of context (perceptions).

Yes. The world environment has changed. But what makes people successful has not. It is, and always has been, a combination of effort, persistence, thinking & doing. I don’t believe Life has a formula but I would suggest if you manage these ingredients well you may not necessarily have boundless success, but you will absolutely increase the odds of success.

That said.

I think we talk about the education system incorrectly and we far too often ignore the psychological underpinnings of a fatalistic view of education. It may sound trite but the trick to solving part of our education problem may be in, well, attitudes. If we can disrupt fatalistic attitudes, in combination with some changes to the system itself, well, maybe we can educate to maximize everyone’s potential. hat, to me, sounds like a worthy objective.

 

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Written by Bruce