Schools Don’t Support Personal Development, They Distort It
Education and the myth of finite learning
After they get their first job, many people go, “Finally, I can stop reading. I can stop learning.” =
In our society, it’s a truism everyone first needs years of schooling before they can start contributing to society. When we’ve reached this performance-phase, we quit learning.
Your diploma was an entry ticket to the real world. It signals that you’re ready to participate. To play with the big boys.
As psychologist Anders Ericsson puts it in Peak:
We only learn until we feel like we’ve hit a “good enough” point. As soon as we feel like we’re good enough (subconsciously or consciously) we stop improving.
When we exit campus (or whatever), we disembark from the ship of personal growth.
When you think about it, that’s strange.
It’s not your fault
In his TedTalk, researcher Eduardo Briceño provides empirical support for Ericsson’s assertion, showing that their entry ticket in hand, having earned the right to, many folks really do stop evolving:
“Research shows that after the first couple of years working in a profession, performance…
