A rare piece.

The Anti-Student Manifesto

or, an obligatory cascade of intelligence and rhetoric against the established system of life and learning in America

I often struggle with coming to grips with the reason I'm in school. I am not a good student, as in I'm not good at learning what someone wants me to learn, as they want me to, but I love learning. If I were to list my great passions in life, learning would be at the top, solidified by a need to not only know but understand. My thirst for knowledge and understanding is almost insatiable, but it doesn't necessarily fit in with the actual experience of being educated. Learning can occur anywhere at any time, it can deal with any topic and any school of thought regarding that topic. There are so many different variations of the same theories and so many different explanations for any given observation, how can any singular theory be taught as the definitive one? The point is: why is such emphasis put on attending lectures, passing exams, and getting a degree, when in reality the amount of learning, and the sheer breadth of the knowledge accumulated, is often dwarfed by that of learning autodidactically?

I may not be a very good student, but that isn't what I am in school to do. I'm here to accumulate knowledge and understanding, even if it is somewhat limited. So regardless of how I fare in my courses, I commit myself to the pursuit of knowledge. Being a successful student is not an end, it will not fulfill my life. Getting a degree is not an end. Getting a well-paying job and having a large house and a comfortable life, these are not ends. Even learning, my great love is not an end. But learning does get me closer to what I believe to be an end, which is contributing to humanity and somehow taking part in bettering the condition of human existence. This is an end, and one that I stand behind wholly. Contributions to philosophy, or art, or science, or politics can all be used to effect the whole of humanity and have the potential to make life easier, if only by shedding a little more light on the mysteries of life. Do not be motivated by materialism or greed, or even the need to go along with life as others go. Ask: Why am I doing whatever it is that I do? What is my motivation?

And yet maybe only certain people can lead this sort of life. I really can't say that I believe everyone could, or should, do as I wish to do. Do what you want. Live as you please, as I will certainly do. Follow your passions with as much vigor as I try to pursue mine. Maybe that is really the key.