Bearfruit

So long status quo. I think I just let go.
Interesting events have conspired since my last blog post. The concept of meritocracy has popped into my head several times. Last night, while talking to my brother, who is a Jr. in high school, I was explaining what it meant. Shortly thereafter, our dad reminded us that we had to go to an award ceremony for Nate and the other students who lettered for academic achievement.

We sat in the auditorium while the speaker drolled on about how we were probably in a rush to get out and there really was not much he could say that would be that helpful. He also explained that if this were a commencement speech he would tell us x, and y, and z, but since it wasn’t, he wouldn’t tell us those things. In his conclusion, he remarked how things have changed, and that in his day, glasses were not cool, but today, glasses are stylish and people sometimes even wear fake glasses. He also said that intellectuals were not considered cool in past generations, but today, those who are intelligent and hard working are considered leaders. Hmm….

So little information is new. Instead, much of what we hear or read is merely recycled information, and worse, many of the “facts” we hear originate from sales or P.R. sources. It just re-affirms in my mind that most people have forgotten (or never learned) how to think. I’ll go into more detail on the subject later, and end for now with this thought-provoking idea:

Nate and I were talking about how infrequently people actually think, so I asked him, “how do we teach kids to think?” Nate has this habit of responding with off-the-cuff remarks that are brilliant in their simplicity, and did so again with this question. His response, which I believe hits the nail right on the head, was, “Make them do it.” Exactly.

Here are a couple quotes by Albert Einstein,
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”
By the way, the opening line on this blog is a quote from Nichole Nordeman’s song, “Brave.”