On Education, A Letter to My Children
May 1, 1982
Dear Travis, Kory and Terra,
These thoughts on education are my best guess on how to direct and accelerate your development as a positive force in life. It is not complete; it is based on what I have heard, seen, done, hope and wonder.
Before you begin honor your ancestors, everyone of whom was perceptive enough to be biologically successful. Also recognize that they were not faced with all the dangers and opportunities you are responsible for. Only in the last 50 years has man been capable of total self-destruction. Never before has man been capable of creating the intelligent competitors you will see in your lives.
Please consider these thoughts:
Ignorance and apathy are the greatest enemies of any free people. The future depends on foreseeing consequences; having the will and ability to act in advance of events. Remember history, the usual state is often anarchy and oppression. Enforce the fulcrum:
As a young person, you will likely feel powerless to change the world; you are not:
Society is an illusion to the young citizen. It lies before him in rigid repose, with certain names, men, and institutions, rooted like oak-trees to the center; round which all arrange themselves the best they can. But the old statesman knows that society is fluid; there are no such roots and centers; but any particle may suddenly become the center of the movement, and compel the system to gyrate round it, as every man of strong will, like Pisistratus, or Cromwell, does for a time, and every man of truth like Plato, or Paul, does for ever.
Emerson, Politics
If parts of this process seem complex, remember that the limits you see are more perceived than real. It is within your abilities and the strength of your character to reach beyond the limits that are known. Education is the process opening minds to possibilities, souls to justice and bodies to implementation.
OBJECTIVE OF EDUCATION
The power to change the world rests with you as individuals. This power is simply your will and abilities applied towards achieving objectives. From your minds will come the ideals for what objectives are just; from you soul will come the courage and will to reach those objectives; from your bodies will come the ability to apply your strengths of spirit and wisdom.
The objective of your education is to develop principles with which you can guide and project your lives; so you understand power and use it wisely, so that you are thoughtful, compassionate and courageous.
Despite some of the problems likely to be encountered, education is the dynamic process that develops harmony within you, so that just reason is your ruling principle. Achieving and maintaining this objective will allow you to be a force of positive good in your lives.
As a guide to defining reason, periodically read the works of Plato, Thomas Jefferson, Emerson, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain and Milton Freidman. Study the Constitution, its development and the individualistic nature of American culture to see how reason can be applied to practical and just governing. Regularly apply your ideas to develop your skills with the power of reason.
ELEMENTS OF LEARNING
In developing your ability to reason, consider that there are three elements of learning; instincts, experience and abstract concepts.
Instincts form our basic character, the background against which we project our learning. Experience and abstract concepts are the intertwined elements of form and substance that allow us to apply ideas in a practical world. Think of yourself as a cup of water; the base of your cup, instincts, combined with the walls, experience, providing the form that allows the water, the thought, to be used too handled and use.
The combining of these elements is important. To tell a young child that he will be hurt by eating food that is too hot is an abstract concept. Once he burns himself, combines that experience with his instincts, he develops a form for using the concept, "hot." He develops the ability to use experiences and concepts to project thoughts, to avoid or seek situations; he begins to reason. The more constructive experiences you have, the larger your cup. Train your mind and drive your spirit to fill that cup.
TWO WARNINGS: First, there are experiences that are destructive to our nature, use your instinctive sense of good and bad to guide your choices. Second, the assumptions on which we base our concepts can be flawed, forming cracks in our cup. It seems that many of the crimes against humanity have been supported by good people acting on poor assumptions. At times we have failed to reason and blindly "followed orders" and at other times we have avoided conflict only to allow greater destruction. Maintaining a balance requires that you judge your efforts regularly, test your assumptions, check for and repair the cracks in you cup.
SCHOOLING
The activity by which you build your framework and develop concepts is schooling. This schooling, extending far beyond the classroom, is the process of interaction between you and all the forces of culture, environment and basic nature. To develop as a whole person, to maintain your ideals and succeed in this complex and dangerous world, your schooling should be divided into four equal parts:
1. _HISTORY, LANGUAGES AND BUSINESS
Study history in the context of the cultures in which it was recorded to learn where we have been and how we got to where we are today. Participate in society to experience how we relate, behave and work with each other. Take note of how we have succeeded; recognize that individuals, working against the odds, have repeatedly reached beyond the known limits of their time. Take special note of languages; their concepts and words are a reflection of our minds.
2. _ART AND MUSIC
Study the arts and music so you develop skills for dreaming the dreams that have never been dreamt before. Develop self-discipline so you can translate those dreams into reality. It is in the arts that you can perceive a reflection of our souls.
3. _BASIC SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
We are tool makers. From the study and application of basic science and engineering learn to build, operate and control the tools to bridge the gap from where we are today to where your dreams will take us.
I would like to add one judgment. There are many dreams and tools that are contrary to our nature, items that should be guarded against and should not be used. And if built, they should be dismantled. Nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, the implements of mass destruction, are such tools and their use is a bridge that can only be crossed into oblivion.
4. _THE MILITARY, WILDERNESS, ATHLETICS and FAITH
There will be enemies to your dreams. Not the least of which will be your fears and doubts. Vested interests hold to what is known, controlled by them. It is nearly prophetic that poets, artists and teachers are executed by their governments for questioning what is. It is always tragic that good people stand on the outside, fear preventing their intervention.
There will also be good people doing what they think is right for all the right reasons, but based on the wrong assumptions (creating weapons of massive destruction for example).
Learn to deal with it. "The lion shall lie down with lamb" only when lambs are tough enough to make lions eat grass. Competition not peace is the natural order of existence. Peace is the forced absence of war. Forcing this absence is everyone's personal responsibility. You cannot ask another to stand your watch for you. Every soul needs to train for its faith and every body needs to guard over our general freedom. Beyond peace, liberty is even more rare, existing only when the powerful appreciate, tolerate and embrace the creativity of others. I believe we make the powerful appreciate the value of others by making everyone powerful, a society without victims.
Use athletics to train and drive your body. This, like commerce, is mock combat. Delight in victory and learn from failure. Our rock climbing, cliff diving, swimming, running, kayaking, skydive, and other adventures serve to introduce you to your strengths and character.
Next, there is an honesty, directness and self-searching simplicity that often develops in those who have endured hardships to protect the liberty of others. I would have you develop this by serving in the defense of our Republic.
There are two other critically important reason for serving in the military. First, as a citizen, the rulers of our Republic, you need personal experience with the institutions of power you command.
Second, the concentration of power in the military beyond any policing force. Its behavior is controlled only by the ethics of those who command and serve it. Citizens must participate so military customs and traditions remain one of Duty, Honor , Country. If you think those commanding our forces will never misbehave think of the Trail of Tears, Sand Creek and Wounded Knee. Even the recent Ruby Ridge stands as a small example that the government cannot and does not have a soul. Governments operate on rules and regulations enforced by men. Ruling its behavior depend on each of us, every citizen, personally being skilled in the use of force and wise in its application.
From the wilderness, I ask you to learn of god and the everyday courage and harmony in life, death and existence. We have been given great gifts. The shear mass of our generations will shape our stewardship or final consumption of these gifts.
FORCES SHAPING YOUR LIVES
As you develop there will be three primary forces that will act on your development. There are always interactions between these, but each will dominate for a period.
1. _AUTHORITY
When you are young, your cup will be built for you by authorities. These authorities consist of your mother, teachers, television, books, churches, others and me. Authority will tell you what the world is, interpret it for you and tell you how to act towards it. Your mother and I participate in our schools and community to build a viable network of authorities to help you develop experience and form your thoughts.
Even with participation the assumptions of some authorities are flawed so we limit your access to these authorities. Television is of particular concern, it allows almost no participation and operates on some poor assumptions. For these reasons we are strict in limiting the time you spend watching TV. Be a participant not a spectator in life.
2. _PEERS
As you grow into your teens, your peer group will become a major force. Contained by a cohesive community and dynamic culture this is a very positive force. It allows you to challenge the assumptions of authority while avoiding the consequences of individual failure. But as a favor to your mother and me, choose your tests wisely and trust your sense of good and bad.
3. _YOURSELF
The last force is you. It seems that girls in their very late teens to mid-twenties and boys in their early to late twenties become the dominant force in their own lives. This is the dynamic age, the vigor of which will last as long as your mind remains flexible, as long as reason drives your courage and contains your desires. This is the age of reason. Make the most of this time, reach out to build your cup, extend yourself to fill it. Remain watchful for cracks and build a better world.
Although I still have much to learn, these are some of the observations your mother and I have made so far in our lives. They are the guidelines we use in the process of parenting. I hope they are of some value as you develop and become positive forces in your lives and time.
With Love
your dad
*updated in 1997