23Apr/111
The Sad, Beautiful Fact That We’re All Going To Miss Almost Everything
A good essay on culture and the philosophy of being well-read. (NPR, via Marco.org)
A good essay on culture and the philosophy of being well-read. (NPR, via Marco.org)
May 14th, 2011 - 02:15
I’ve never been particularly well-read. In grade 9 high school, everything was general classes of difficulty. You got to choose differently for grade 10– to be in the advanced or general classes. I was as smart as my friends– in elementary I never had homework cause I was able to get it all done in time before 98% of the class.
This held true in grade 9. I didn’t have to try very hard. I knew what the teacher was looking for and I gave it to them. It felt like bullshit to me.
When all my friends took advanced classes, I took general classes. I was there with the misfits and troublemakers too smart for the basic classes but not motivated enough to give a shit to do anything and got in trouble for that.
I did everything asked to even when I attended only 30% of a class the entire semester. I did better than the majority.
And I quit high school. I worked a $10/hour in 2000 as an assistant and never had to work in fast food. I’ve never worked for less than $10/hour and have since been worth $20,000/2.5 months over all the experience and different jobs I’ve been lucky enough to draw experience from.
I’ve learned more about science than I ever did from grade 10 when I cheated on 80% of my tests. I fucking love science.
I hate the institution of school. My best friend is 26 and still in school. I have a career and I can run my own non-profit organization. I know how to make my own money at something I’m good at.
School didn’t teach me that. Being well-read or well-cultured didn’t either. I didn’t like watching movies till 10 years ago. Now some of the best shit you’ll ever watch in your entire life has happened on tv (Six Feet Under, Battlestar Galactica).
I’ve never read Shakespeare in my entire life. What good has reading him done for you?