Fantasyland

“Those who can’t do, teach. And those who can’t teach, teach gym.”
I probably heard that first watching School of Rock (2003) via Jack Black.
But the line is first spoken on screen in Annie Hall (1977) via Woody Allen’s voiceover:
“I remember the staff at our public school. You know, we had a saying, uh, that, ‘Those who can’t do, teach, and those who can’t teach, teach gym.’ And… uh, of course, those who couldn’t do anything, I think, were assigned to our school.”
I have a lot of respect for teachers, especially my close friends who were taught well themselves and… “believe the children are our future” so took up the noble profession.
When I choose to mentor or advise young students, I find it frustrating that only economics and maybe statistics are offered in most high school.
Even those who graduate college having “studied business” (whatever the hell that means!) think that having memorized an equation or two puts them on the short list to win a Fields Medal.
As President Bartlet said on The West Wing:
“The science of economics is a lot less an exact science that we pretend. We build complex models with thousands of interdependent and independent variables…”
Chances are: if Excel can already do it, then humans need to contribute more imagination to the markets than playing with numbers at investment banks:
I had many Dr. Phillip Barbays as professors at The Wharton School.
But I had few Thornton Melons as classmates…

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