School... obsolete?

Schooling has been around since forever. Now with the new ipod generation and in the times we are living in, is there really a necessity for a building where people go to learn?

We are now well into the age of the internet. A time where almost any information is accessible from devices conveniently stored in each individuals pocket. What is really the point of convening in a geographical location for the sole purpose of education. Of course there is the whole social networking of "school," but in the sense of learning, it seems to be obsolete.

Wikipedia, Youtube, and so many more websites can easily do all the teaching that is necessary for actual learning. Gaining access to knowledge is so easy with all the resources that almost everyone has now.

So then what is the real point of school? It is something to grant proof of "education." It doesn't necessarily mean that you learned stuff, but it shows people that you paid money to learn stuff, and were able to reproduce it on tests. It is proof that you did something rather than nothing.

How long will it take for this proof system to become more efficient? Couldn't it happen now?

I know that there are millions of holes in my theory, but I haven't actually sat down and planned out an entire education system suitable for a large and advanced country. I'm just trying to say that it seems very possible that schools may soon be obsolete.

College

My theory on college:

College is 4 years filled with... well, what is it filled with? There is a lot of partying, socialization, self discovery, and maybe a bit of learning.

It seems a bit unnecessary to spend 4 years of life in an institution, spending tens of thousands of dollars on what seems like just wasting time living somewhere that isn't home. It may be fun, but it seems so very inefficient.

Breaking college down into numbers:

I don't know about other people, but from what I've seen from my friends and myself, nobody really studies for a test more than 2 days in advance, most of which only use 1 day. Let's assume 2.

On a quarter system, most classes come down to 3 tests. 2 midterms and 1 final.

A quarter has about 4 classes.

A year has usually 3 quarters.

And college is 4 years.

3 tests x 4 classes x 3 quarters x 4 years = 144 tests

Giving 2 days of study time between each test (a test every 3 days), that would make college come down to (144 x 3 =) 432 days. Which is 1 year and 2 months about. That leaves a potential 2.8 years for partying and the other fun (or moving on to the next part of life).

Even adding .8 years of vacation time (or adding more study days.. what ever you want) would still make college into a 2 year program. Which in turn would give an extra 2 years to do... anything really.

Don't get me wrong here, I enjoyed college, possibly too much. The problem is that the basics and foundations of learning are never really taught, and so much time is wasted in sessions of attempted learning.

Anyways, the way I see it, lectures are unnecessary. All the material can be learned through reading, watching youtube videos, or just reading the teacher's powerpoints or notes. The actual process of listening to the teacher is quite inefficient, not in the sense of knowledge, but in the sense of time.

Studying and Procrastination

It seems like so many people do this thing called blank studying. Motivation plays a key part in this. Why is it that when we study earlier than necessary, it seems that nothing is going into our heads. And when its crunch time, every little detail (or at least most) seems to be at an easy reach come hours later.

The difference in motivation is tremendous. I'm sitting here attempting to learn eight hours worth of Histology lectures from 2 weeks ago for a test in two weeks. Of course nothing is actually entering my brain. But if the test was in 2 days, I would be learning the material very very quickly.

There has to be a better method to study. Unfortunately, procrastination seems to be the only thing that has been working for me so far. And by procrastination I don't mean studying on the last day, I mean starting to study exactly when I need to in order to know enough information to do decent on the upcoming test.

The Box

Can a normal human think outside of the box?

I don't believe it to be possible. I don't think humans are capable of thinking outside of the "box."

Example, and I'm sure that many people may have seen this before:

. . .

. . .

. . .

Connect all the dots without lifting your pencil with only 4 lines.

If you have seen this before or seen something similar to it, then it is quite simple to do the task. If you haven't, it would be nearly impossible.

The point of this is that to do it, you must literally think outside of the box. Now, given a person that has never seen this puzzle, the literal "box" would contain these 9 dots. To someone that has done the puzzle however, the "box" contains all the the dots and the white space around it.

The box for these people has expanded. And in that expansion, people have learned a new technique to solving problems, and their IQ has increased.

What I'm basically trying to say is that people don't think outside of the box, their boxes just expand.

"No"

Why is it that people are so ready to say this word more than anything else.

For example: When quizzing each other for an up coming test, if the quizee gets the answer even minutely wrong, the quizzer is eager to jump on the "NO" to allow himself to correct the other.

And for this example, I include myself in the complaint. I'm very quick to jump on the "No" button myself. I believe this is a power struggle. The power gained by saying the simple word "No" allows for a quick shut down of any attempt of another climbing the ladder of command. Of course this is only in the mind of the one that says no.

To the other it can either be taken as what it means: a clear indication of who has more power in the situation, or it can be taken very lightly or possibly even as nothing at all.

The point of this is that the word "no" can be put to limited use. In the earlier situation, the word no could be avoided by saying, "Close" or "Almost." In many situations the word "No" can be very easily replaced to create a much better, polite sounding, and even a more positive scenario. I'm sure many of us have learned about positive reinforcement, or some type of encouraging, to help the development of others.

It seems like society can be bettered so easily and in so many ways. But there is no way in which it can be implemented.

The Golden Rule and Privacy

"Treat others as you would like to be treated"

The golden rule to living life in a society. Everyone wishes to be treated a certain way, but why is it that most don't treat others in that way. A simple way to live life in a nice way, yet so rare.

Which brings me the to issue of privacy. Why is everyone so private with their life. Why must so many aspects of an individual be hidden. Why can't society allow for the interactions which are much more intimate, giving much more depth to each relationship.

How are these two things really related? Well, I for one don't believe in the same type of privacy that most others do. I believe in an open door policy (I literally do not lock my door). Of course, I am a very trusting, maybe even over trusting, person, but I don't feel the need to hide things from others.

For one, every private thing that may be mentioned partially in the presence of another who does not know about the topic makes that person feel incredibly uncomfortable. Having been in that situation, I don't feel like I should put others in it. Of course now I just pry into it as much as possible because I feel that there is no need for anyone to hide anything from me.

I feel like the balance between public and private matters of each individual is at a very biased equilibrium, and there should definitely be a shift towards the public. The reason people want to know about private issues is because they are private, once they become public, the interest dies down.

This all boils down to me, and I do understand that my school of thought is a rare one, but I do not understand why people cannot convert. When I say it boils down to me, I mean that I don't believe in privacy, and hence, by the golden rule, expect others to be much more open with me.