Thank you for publishing this! I am very pleased to hear the general consensus, thank you everybody who took your time to read. I have just started a sub stack of my own and hope to write more soon, please feel free to follow if you want to hear more from an angry "screenager" :)
I've subscribed. I'll be interested to see what topics you pursue. I don't know why you aren't intending to follow your heart and pursue a degree in the humanities, although I'm guessing there is a heavy load of parental pressure pushing you towards STEM or business. Just know this: what you do at this point of your life may have little bearing on where you will go. Still, you should pursue what you love. Don't do something because the adults in your life are adamant that is what you should do. Should is for schmucks.
What I did at Jadon's age had everything to do with where I went. Other's, not so much. It depends, primarily, on where you want to go and how you want to get there, and how open you are to other influences.
Loved your letter, Jason. You’ll see my comments here. Looking forward to reading your Substack! At the same time, I’m a little bit disappointed that you didn’t lock yourself up in the library to read all of Shakespeare’s plays or the Bhagavad Gita! You are certainly are a(n entrepreneurial) screenager!
Look at Ted, he got an MBA from Stanford but he’s also a jazz musician, and a philosophy scholar. The humanities, like art and music causes us to focus, process, ponder, practice and not just produce. Thinking, crafting, creating—all this is extremely valuable work even if 99% of this is in your head! There are no or only a very few likes, clicks, web, data or customer metrics on this path.
The mind has a life of its own and sometimes the external world is but a distraction for the true scholar. Don’t fall for thinking that everything action is a step forward, life is not rungs on a ladder. It’s an Escher painting with odd leaps of inter-dimensional insight!
Hi, Jadon. I'm one of Ted Gioia's followers on this Substack, and my first question was going to be "Does Jadon have a Substack of his own?" Got the answer already. Jadon, my family all thought I was a little bit irresponsible over 40 years ago when I got my university degree in one of the most traditional humanities, History. But it wasn't just any history, it was Medieval and Modern European History. I'm sitting on a mountain peak of research and experience that gives me fantastic insight into why our world is in this political, economic, and social mess today. It began long, long before "phones". Let me recommend a writer named Alvin Toffler to you. He wrote three books over the past 50 years: Future Shock, The Third Wave, and Powershift. When you get through those you'll have seen the essence of Toffler's thinking matched to observations of society around him. Sadly he passed away in 2016, but his ideas are still earthshaking.
I chose my major by throwing a dart at my transcript pinned to a pine tree. It landed closer to History than French so I did both a major in History and a minor in French. Both have served me well as I am bilingual to this day. Not the most scientific method but I'm glad I followed that dart.
I'll echo Ted's endorsement that you are already a good writer and critical thinker, and will get better with practice. I like your term for yourself, an "angry screenager". Remember that anger is tremendous energy under pressure. Let that energy go in well-controlled packets and you'll accomplish a lot. If it explodes all at one go, the damage my be irreparable. BTW I'm a mid-term Baby Boomer (1957) , one of the millions who never got rich financially, but are billionaires in friendship, opportunities, and pure joie de vivre (joy of living). I'll follow along with you on your Substack. Best from Carol S.
Jadon, if you really want to go into STEM, then you should. But if, as you intimated by your favorite subject and the quality of this letter, you want to go into the English/writing field, the world of words needs you and others like you, smart, articulate, self-aware, and well-spoken. Well done, here, well done.
I believe that a large part of the problem, if not THE problem, is that higher education in the United States is treated as a means to an end. “Do this so that you can get that.” I tell my daughters “whatever it is that you do, do it because it alone is worth doing.”
It’s the whole idea that education, and specifically higher education, are a means to get a job. We’re not as far down that street in Europe as you are in the US, but it’s ebbing that way and there seems to be no way of stopping it.
You can go to med school and major in biology (boring) while rushing to graduate in 3 years. Or you can major in just about anything, as long as you take the prerequisites. Strong academic work always gets stellar recommendation letters. One can even take time off between undergrad and med school and do a little basket weaving and scuba diving. AOA physician here. Who's rushing you? Half my med school classmates took several years off before starting that rigorous 4 years. Dominated the top of the class.
Architect school is more of the same. You gotta know the prerequisites. Before and after, who's rushing you? As a pretty damn good pianist and guitar player (edited, earlier I wrote architect instead of guitar), I can see where a really good musician with some background in acoustics might be the one you want to design a world-class concert hall. The ones that took years off to travel the world exploring art museums and architecture before having the eureka moment- hey I wanna design these buildings for the rest of my life.
Engineering? Don't get me started. The ones who have the most impact tend to be really well-rounded, thinking outside the box. Not to mention social skills help greatly in getting promoted to upper echelons where you're managing a lot of people and directing big projects. The engineers that are only good at STEM tend to sit at their desks for decades while they watch others advance. The ones that are wicked smart, head and shoulders above their peers, starting companies while being complete nerds are one in a million.
Half of all college grads are "underemployed" after graduation, meaning they work in a field that doesn't require a college diploma. After ten years that percentage has barely dropped at all.
The issue is cost. If somebody wants to go to college and study calligraphy, or Sanskrit, or Hinduism, of course they should be able to. But how many are really going to be willing to do that if it means going into debt for years, possibly decades?
there are zero college grads who went to a real school and paid attention who are "underemployed." the problem is way too many people go to schools like Southeast Arkansas State University- North Campus, and treat the experience as a joke where they party for 4 years and have a lot of fun.
You find me someone that learned Sanskrit in college, really learned it. I'll hire them and teach them everything they need to know to be successful. That's one smart MOFO. Any language really.
Almost no job "requires" a college diploma other than the hoops they make you jump through. Ask a doctor what they use from an undergrad course on a daily basis, the answer will be nothing. Ditto for a lawyer. Someone that studies comparative religion with a focus on Hinduism can probably write really well and think outside the box. I'd hire them in a second. Nobody majors in "Hinduism" or calligraphy, so you're just making shit up.
First of all, did you go to college? People actually do major in fields like Women's Studies, Ethnic Studies, Art History, etc.
Second, who are you going to hire? Somebody who got an A in Classical Languages and Literature from Dartmouth or somebody who got an A in business or engineering from some state school?
My point about the number of underemployed college grads is that there are too many college grads. Just getting a diploma isn't a guarantee of a decent job and if you are in the 50% that is chronically underemployed you have the additional burden of student debt plus losing four or five years of employment. Is anyone seriously going to dispute that for those individuals they probably would have been better off not going to college?
Finally, what if that person studies Sanskrit _because_ they wanted a career translating Sanskrit??? You got many positions for classical/ancient languages at your company?
I graduated top of my class in bioengineering at Columbia, then did the same for med school. Not after taking some time off though, and having some interesting jobs. None of which required a college degree.
You mentioned Sanskrit first. I'd say that's a sign of a rather bright individual. Make it a minor, or a double major. I'd hire them in a heartbeat. I ran multiple level I trauma centers, dozens of employees under my umbrella that if I didn't hire directly I could have fired for the slightest hint of incompetence or unprofessionalism. I've started multiple successful businesses. Only two had any remote connection with my undergrad degree, patents for devices used daily in ERs and whatnot. Another was tangentially related to medicine, I was the first "pot-doctor" in Southern Cali.
I concurred that there are too many college grads. Most treated high school like a joke, then went to schools where if you have a pulse, you're admitted. For most of them, I don't care what they majored in. They're not working for me. They were largely incurious in high school and never grew out of it. I'm absolutely not talking about the ones who were passionate about things like music. Worked in record stores and could tell you something about the musicians on every album in the store. Guys who were really into cars and can tell you that's a 1962 Chevy that just drove by, and why it's not a year earlier or later. The ones who just drifted through in a coma, lives of quiet desperation.
I'm also not the one that decided that a college degree is necessary for a lot of bullshit jobs, it becomes a lazy filter for those making hiring decisions. Almost no physician ever uses organic chemistry, apart from a tiny few that go into research. Heck almost none ever concern themselves with calculus or physics, two more prerequisites. First semester med school gross anatomy flunks out more students than all the other classes combined. Almost nobody uses it apart from surgeons, and that's a very different way of learning anatomy anyways.
I don't make the rules. It's all a racket. Schools make money, banks make money on the loans. Half of them should be shuttered, they're no more rigorous than a mediocre high school. Go figure how with all that excess we still have a severe shortage of engineers and nurses in this country, not to mention a dearth of people that can think critically.
I guess 'successful and productive' are subjective. If your baskets give you, and maybe others, joy, isn't that enough? If you're day job is tolerable, and you're happy, I think that is success! Money isn't everything and I have had a couple 'successful' careers. But the one I truly loved, was the one that didn't pay well but allowed me to do all the things I love. I won every award. But the joy was in working with my volunteers, the youth, public speaking, teaching, training, motivating and creating relationships. The hours were long, the pay wasn't great, it was stressful, but abundantly rewarding. Yep, have a BA in Economics and minor in Philosophy. But the joy was in doing what I loved, not necessarily studied for. I made more money in my 'traditional' career but my passion was fulfilled elsewhere.
LOL...I've actually had several including owning my own business. Even my 'traditional ' job had me working as a self-employed purveyor of mortgage loans and working 24/7/365 for about half my time in that business. My kids nearly melted down the New Year's Day I took an application for a service member at my dining room table. His only free day.
There are a lot of doctors, architects etc. that included the liberal arts into their education at some point. I agree that’s it’s often more expensive that way rather than to get your 5-year BArch and be done with school. There are a lot more licensed professions now then there was 50 years ago, which is problematic.
I actually do marketing and write proposals for architects and engineers. It’s too bad that most architects can’t write well and have never been taught the basic skills of how to run a business.
So they end up paying me (a BA with a measly English degree) more than a licensed project manager to do it for them. Plus by being observant and intellectually curious about design, getting LEED accredited, and teaching myself CAD software means that I can (and do) design renovations and small homes on the side.
Although I taught High School Math for 10+ years, I had plenty of opportunity to read student essays. When the students found out I was a reading addict, quite a few of them would ask me to take a look at their writing. Jadon's communication skills are off the charts. If you had told us he was a grad student involved in a creative writing program I would have believed it. I hope we get to read similar letters in the future. Thanks for sharing.
Mannn, as a teacher, there is nothing more amazing that learning one of the kids in your class has this depth of a desire for humanity, to fully live, explore, think, create. In spite of the systemic suppression of this most basic human instinct (alongside the new trouble of technology there have always been a thousand other things that suppress it, social pressure/power, herd instincts, traditional masculinity, fear), I have encountered a surprising number of kids who can articulate a basic level of humanity more skillfully than most of their teachers. I had one student in the ghetto of Chicago who got all Fs and Ds, and had probably never finished a book, but when asked what he really cared about, could critique technology, social conformity, and inhumanity in ways that would impress Thoreau. And he was the coolest kid in the grade!--though none of his friends knew the intellectual side of him. These are kids who often see even the ways their teachers have bought into a system that makes no sense, and thus have nowhere to go with their innate wisdom and curiosity.
You have to ask yourself what is wrong with the education system when a clearly brilliant young man is only getting Fs and Ds. In my experience academic achievement rarely correlates with intelligence. I know PhDs who are so one-dimensional, so lacking in creative thought and analytical thinking that you can only assume that their privilege and the fact that no-one fails a PhD anymore, no matter how bad, that they are in the position they are. I have had various careers starting life out as a classical musician, then retraining as a biochemist and working in medical research and then again retraining as a veterinarian. I can tell you that the musicians were the smartest, most switched on bunch, whereas most veterinarians are dumb as dog shit. Smartest guy I know barely went to school past year 9. I wish there were more opportunities in our education systems for the truly intelligent, the truly independent and creative thinkers.
I've assigned your State of the Culture 2024 to my AP Lang students (junior English) as well. I think it resonated with some, but others are so foregone that they couldn't make the connection between your argument and their own addiction.
Some of the challenge comes down to generational gaps. I was arguing about the impact of TikTok and phone addiction with my brother. He insisted that it was just like his own generation (X) being addicted to TV or video games. But it really isn't the same. You couldn't lug around some heavy box around to watch TV everywhere you went, and the shows actually required some attention. I was also trying to explain the difference between pop culture and dopamine culture, one that caters to the lazy brain and the other that hijacks the brain.
It fell on deaf ears though. I suspect this is because he wants to believe that giving his kids iPads and letting them roam free online won't harm them. Teaching class after class of screenagers has convinced me that he's wrong. It's a problem, and I think a hard pass on screens in the house is the main way out of this mess.
My experiences interacting with high school students in recent years have greatly impressed me. They are doing so much more independent critical thinking, having discussions, researching issues, then they are given credit for. I wouldn't say that young folk are incapable of action; I've found them eager to act but without supportive guidance or enough knowledge of byzantine systems to get started. It's on adults to provide better assistance and knowledge so they can move on their ideals.
As a freshmen in college, I agree with so much of what he has said in this letter. The fact is, is that there’s a large percentage of us who would absolutely agree, but we’re seemingly utterly helpless when it comes to taking action.
I don’t think that there’s a big difference in thought between high school-aged kids and parents; it’s just the disconnect that, well, leads us astray. Thanks for sharing Ted!
I believe this notion of ‘helplessness’ comes from how we view the outlook of our future. Very often responses would sound similar to “It’s all going down the drain anyway, so there isn’t much for me to do.”
We’re constantly reminded of how bad everything is now, so when faced with making hard decisions, even with life-long benefits, typically we do nothing.
Hi -- Jadon's teacher here. Just wanted to send gratitude for all who are communicating on this topic: it is a serious one to have. Thus, why I shared it with my students. Ted, Jadon--keep the torch burning. And I promise to do the same.
Jadon implies that there were indeed others in his class who resonated with Ted’s arguments. We can’t reach everyone, nor should we try to do so. Let’s focus on the ones who ‘have ears to hear.’ They are the future.
I recently listened to a podcast on Conversations with Tyler and Jonathan Haidt. It was an excellent interview and well worth the listen. Jonathan tackles these same issues, and one can only hope that an effective backlash against social media is brewing.
There's only one way to justify charging tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for a college education: to portray it as a financial investment that will pay dividends over a lifetime of working. All of the money flowing into higher ed (including from government subsidies like grants and loans) has distorted the perception of what college is for. Now it's a means to an end, a certificate that (hopefully) allows one entry into a white collar profession and a commensurately greater paycheck.
Take that to its logical conclusion and why would anyone choose a major other than engineering, comp sci, business, pre-law, etc.? It's no paradox that many more Americans attend college now compared to the 1960's and yet programs like humanities are dying.
Even worse is what these perverse incentives are doing to college students. If the goal of college is to go work at a bank there is no point in rebellion or exploration. Instead It's "do your homework, get good grades, punch the clock, keep your head down, don't make trouble." Is it any wonder that the current generation of college students is overwhelmingly conformist and risk averse?
Mr. Gioia, Despite having a lively ongoing conversation with you in my mind for several months, this is the first time you’ll hear me. I’m a mom to an 11 year old daughter. We uninstalled wifi from our house in January of this year. The impact has been profound. We are not selfish, we were hypnotized. There are no shortcuts. I feel I have a brain again that has the space to choose and reflect and follow long threads of thought. I have space to be available for the people in my house and to myself. I have space to act deliberately in the world. I even took on the ‘writing advice’ to write everything that happens for thirty days! My peace of mind has elevated substantially. After a week of experiencing what it’s like to live with two phoneless parents, my daughter said no way does she ever want to live with wifi again. There are no shortcuts. Thank you Jadon for making sure your voice gets heard. Never stop speaking up!
Thank you for sharing this exchange! Young people respond in various ways to the atrocities they witness on social media. Just this morning, hundreds across the bay area took action to shut down a military contractor and social media played a key role in cultivating the empathy that drove them to take action—21 years to the month that we did so back in 2003 responding to the invasion of Iraq. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/history-might-not-repeat-but-it-certainly
Young students sense manipulation very keenly, I think. They may not know exactly how it is working or what to do about it, but they sense it and resent it. I know I did.
Every society struggles with how best to educate the next generation, but today’s technocratic preoccupations obstruct even thinking about what most needs teaching and learning. What helps a “good life” most?
Thank heaven for astute young minds like Jadon’s, and hope they can support each other well enough for long enough until the “adult world” starts acting a little more like adults instead of callow gaping maws of insatiable greed and self-indulgence.
Thank you for publishing this! I am very pleased to hear the general consensus, thank you everybody who took your time to read. I have just started a sub stack of my own and hope to write more soon, please feel free to follow if you want to hear more from an angry "screenager" :)
https://substack.com/@theangryscreenager
I've subscribed. I'll be interested to see what topics you pursue. I don't know why you aren't intending to follow your heart and pursue a degree in the humanities, although I'm guessing there is a heavy load of parental pressure pushing you towards STEM or business. Just know this: what you do at this point of your life may have little bearing on where you will go. Still, you should pursue what you love. Don't do something because the adults in your life are adamant that is what you should do. Should is for schmucks.
What I did at Jadon's age had everything to do with where I went. Other's, not so much. It depends, primarily, on where you want to go and how you want to get there, and how open you are to other influences.
I meant to write "may have little bearing". Life can take you all kinds of places was my point.
I see. Thanks for clarifying. That didn't sound like you.
I've edited my comment so that people don't think I'm insane :)).
I'll keep that in mind for the next time I comment. Well, I probably won't, insanity runs in my family.
Loved your letter, Jason. You’ll see my comments here. Looking forward to reading your Substack! At the same time, I’m a little bit disappointed that you didn’t lock yourself up in the library to read all of Shakespeare’s plays or the Bhagavad Gita! You are certainly are a(n entrepreneurial) screenager!
Look at Ted, he got an MBA from Stanford but he’s also a jazz musician, and a philosophy scholar. The humanities, like art and music causes us to focus, process, ponder, practice and not just produce. Thinking, crafting, creating—all this is extremely valuable work even if 99% of this is in your head! There are no or only a very few likes, clicks, web, data or customer metrics on this path.
The mind has a life of its own and sometimes the external world is but a distraction for the true scholar. Don’t fall for thinking that everything action is a step forward, life is not rungs on a ladder. It’s an Escher painting with odd leaps of inter-dimensional insight!
Sorry - Jadon - autocorrect. Sigh.
I subscribed and am looking forward to reading your thoughts. Being an adult, I won't offer any advice. You'll find your way, as most of us did.
Hi, Jadon. I'm one of Ted Gioia's followers on this Substack, and my first question was going to be "Does Jadon have a Substack of his own?" Got the answer already. Jadon, my family all thought I was a little bit irresponsible over 40 years ago when I got my university degree in one of the most traditional humanities, History. But it wasn't just any history, it was Medieval and Modern European History. I'm sitting on a mountain peak of research and experience that gives me fantastic insight into why our world is in this political, economic, and social mess today. It began long, long before "phones". Let me recommend a writer named Alvin Toffler to you. He wrote three books over the past 50 years: Future Shock, The Third Wave, and Powershift. When you get through those you'll have seen the essence of Toffler's thinking matched to observations of society around him. Sadly he passed away in 2016, but his ideas are still earthshaking.
I chose my major by throwing a dart at my transcript pinned to a pine tree. It landed closer to History than French so I did both a major in History and a minor in French. Both have served me well as I am bilingual to this day. Not the most scientific method but I'm glad I followed that dart.
I'll echo Ted's endorsement that you are already a good writer and critical thinker, and will get better with practice. I like your term for yourself, an "angry screenager". Remember that anger is tremendous energy under pressure. Let that energy go in well-controlled packets and you'll accomplish a lot. If it explodes all at one go, the damage my be irreparable. BTW I'm a mid-term Baby Boomer (1957) , one of the millions who never got rich financially, but are billionaires in friendship, opportunities, and pure joie de vivre (joy of living). I'll follow along with you on your Substack. Best from Carol S.
Jadon, if you really want to go into STEM, then you should. But if, as you intimated by your favorite subject and the quality of this letter, you want to go into the English/writing field, the world of words needs you and others like you, smart, articulate, self-aware, and well-spoken. Well done, here, well done.
If I may add, he now has the exposure to assure he can pursue this field.
I just subscribed & am looking forward to your posts. You chose a great name for your site.
Kudos to the teacher that assigned reading Ted’s Substack article!
Thank you!
I believe that a large part of the problem, if not THE problem, is that higher education in the United States is treated as a means to an end. “Do this so that you can get that.” I tell my daughters “whatever it is that you do, do it because it alone is worth doing.”
It’s the whole idea that education, and specifically higher education, are a means to get a job. We’re not as far down that street in Europe as you are in the US, but it’s ebbing that way and there seems to be no way of stopping it.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
You can go to med school and major in biology (boring) while rushing to graduate in 3 years. Or you can major in just about anything, as long as you take the prerequisites. Strong academic work always gets stellar recommendation letters. One can even take time off between undergrad and med school and do a little basket weaving and scuba diving. AOA physician here. Who's rushing you? Half my med school classmates took several years off before starting that rigorous 4 years. Dominated the top of the class.
Architect school is more of the same. You gotta know the prerequisites. Before and after, who's rushing you? As a pretty damn good pianist and guitar player (edited, earlier I wrote architect instead of guitar), I can see where a really good musician with some background in acoustics might be the one you want to design a world-class concert hall. The ones that took years off to travel the world exploring art museums and architecture before having the eureka moment- hey I wanna design these buildings for the rest of my life.
Engineering? Don't get me started. The ones who have the most impact tend to be really well-rounded, thinking outside the box. Not to mention social skills help greatly in getting promoted to upper echelons where you're managing a lot of people and directing big projects. The engineers that are only good at STEM tend to sit at their desks for decades while they watch others advance. The ones that are wicked smart, head and shoulders above their peers, starting companies while being complete nerds are one in a million.
You should read Richard Feynman.
Half of all college grads are "underemployed" after graduation, meaning they work in a field that doesn't require a college diploma. After ten years that percentage has barely dropped at all.
The issue is cost. If somebody wants to go to college and study calligraphy, or Sanskrit, or Hinduism, of course they should be able to. But how many are really going to be willing to do that if it means going into debt for years, possibly decades?
there are zero college grads who went to a real school and paid attention who are "underemployed." the problem is way too many people go to schools like Southeast Arkansas State University- North Campus, and treat the experience as a joke where they party for 4 years and have a lot of fun.
You find me someone that learned Sanskrit in college, really learned it. I'll hire them and teach them everything they need to know to be successful. That's one smart MOFO. Any language really.
Almost no job "requires" a college diploma other than the hoops they make you jump through. Ask a doctor what they use from an undergrad course on a daily basis, the answer will be nothing. Ditto for a lawyer. Someone that studies comparative religion with a focus on Hinduism can probably write really well and think outside the box. I'd hire them in a second. Nobody majors in "Hinduism" or calligraphy, so you're just making shit up.
First of all, did you go to college? People actually do major in fields like Women's Studies, Ethnic Studies, Art History, etc.
Second, who are you going to hire? Somebody who got an A in Classical Languages and Literature from Dartmouth or somebody who got an A in business or engineering from some state school?
My point about the number of underemployed college grads is that there are too many college grads. Just getting a diploma isn't a guarantee of a decent job and if you are in the 50% that is chronically underemployed you have the additional burden of student debt plus losing four or five years of employment. Is anyone seriously going to dispute that for those individuals they probably would have been better off not going to college?
Finally, what if that person studies Sanskrit _because_ they wanted a career translating Sanskrit??? You got many positions for classical/ancient languages at your company?
I graduated top of my class in bioengineering at Columbia, then did the same for med school. Not after taking some time off though, and having some interesting jobs. None of which required a college degree.
You mentioned Sanskrit first. I'd say that's a sign of a rather bright individual. Make it a minor, or a double major. I'd hire them in a heartbeat. I ran multiple level I trauma centers, dozens of employees under my umbrella that if I didn't hire directly I could have fired for the slightest hint of incompetence or unprofessionalism. I've started multiple successful businesses. Only two had any remote connection with my undergrad degree, patents for devices used daily in ERs and whatnot. Another was tangentially related to medicine, I was the first "pot-doctor" in Southern Cali.
I concurred that there are too many college grads. Most treated high school like a joke, then went to schools where if you have a pulse, you're admitted. For most of them, I don't care what they majored in. They're not working for me. They were largely incurious in high school and never grew out of it. I'm absolutely not talking about the ones who were passionate about things like music. Worked in record stores and could tell you something about the musicians on every album in the store. Guys who were really into cars and can tell you that's a 1962 Chevy that just drove by, and why it's not a year earlier or later. The ones who just drifted through in a coma, lives of quiet desperation.
I'm also not the one that decided that a college degree is necessary for a lot of bullshit jobs, it becomes a lazy filter for those making hiring decisions. Almost no physician ever uses organic chemistry, apart from a tiny few that go into research. Heck almost none ever concern themselves with calculus or physics, two more prerequisites. First semester med school gross anatomy flunks out more students than all the other classes combined. Almost nobody uses it apart from surgeons, and that's a very different way of learning anatomy anyways.
I don't make the rules. It's all a racket. Schools make money, banks make money on the loans. Half of them should be shuttered, they're no more rigorous than a mediocre high school. Go figure how with all that excess we still have a severe shortage of engineers and nurses in this country, not to mention a dearth of people that can think critically.
I guess 'successful and productive' are subjective. If your baskets give you, and maybe others, joy, isn't that enough? If you're day job is tolerable, and you're happy, I think that is success! Money isn't everything and I have had a couple 'successful' careers. But the one I truly loved, was the one that didn't pay well but allowed me to do all the things I love. I won every award. But the joy was in working with my volunteers, the youth, public speaking, teaching, training, motivating and creating relationships. The hours were long, the pay wasn't great, it was stressful, but abundantly rewarding. Yep, have a BA in Economics and minor in Philosophy. But the joy was in doing what I loved, not necessarily studied for. I made more money in my 'traditional' career but my passion was fulfilled elsewhere.
LOL...I've actually had several including owning my own business. Even my 'traditional ' job had me working as a self-employed purveyor of mortgage loans and working 24/7/365 for about half my time in that business. My kids nearly melted down the New Year's Day I took an application for a service member at my dining room table. His only free day.
Who gets to say what's productive and what's not? Is translating Sanskrit literature "productive"? How about painting, writing music, sculpting?
watching a bird fly by... either intensely or just with a smile...
There are a lot of doctors, architects etc. that included the liberal arts into their education at some point. I agree that’s it’s often more expensive that way rather than to get your 5-year BArch and be done with school. There are a lot more licensed professions now then there was 50 years ago, which is problematic.
I actually do marketing and write proposals for architects and engineers. It’s too bad that most architects can’t write well and have never been taught the basic skills of how to run a business.
So they end up paying me (a BA with a measly English degree) more than a licensed project manager to do it for them. Plus by being observant and intellectually curious about design, getting LEED accredited, and teaching myself CAD software means that I can (and do) design renovations and small homes on the side.
With all respect I’m shocked and saddened that an architect - architecture is an art - could express such an idea.
Although I taught High School Math for 10+ years, I had plenty of opportunity to read student essays. When the students found out I was a reading addict, quite a few of them would ask me to take a look at their writing. Jadon's communication skills are off the charts. If you had told us he was a grad student involved in a creative writing program I would have believed it. I hope we get to read similar letters in the future. Thanks for sharing.
Mannn, as a teacher, there is nothing more amazing that learning one of the kids in your class has this depth of a desire for humanity, to fully live, explore, think, create. In spite of the systemic suppression of this most basic human instinct (alongside the new trouble of technology there have always been a thousand other things that suppress it, social pressure/power, herd instincts, traditional masculinity, fear), I have encountered a surprising number of kids who can articulate a basic level of humanity more skillfully than most of their teachers. I had one student in the ghetto of Chicago who got all Fs and Ds, and had probably never finished a book, but when asked what he really cared about, could critique technology, social conformity, and inhumanity in ways that would impress Thoreau. And he was the coolest kid in the grade!--though none of his friends knew the intellectual side of him. These are kids who often see even the ways their teachers have bought into a system that makes no sense, and thus have nowhere to go with their innate wisdom and curiosity.
You have to ask yourself what is wrong with the education system when a clearly brilliant young man is only getting Fs and Ds. In my experience academic achievement rarely correlates with intelligence. I know PhDs who are so one-dimensional, so lacking in creative thought and analytical thinking that you can only assume that their privilege and the fact that no-one fails a PhD anymore, no matter how bad, that they are in the position they are. I have had various careers starting life out as a classical musician, then retraining as a biochemist and working in medical research and then again retraining as a veterinarian. I can tell you that the musicians were the smartest, most switched on bunch, whereas most veterinarians are dumb as dog shit. Smartest guy I know barely went to school past year 9. I wish there were more opportunities in our education systems for the truly intelligent, the truly independent and creative thinkers.
I've assigned your State of the Culture 2024 to my AP Lang students (junior English) as well. I think it resonated with some, but others are so foregone that they couldn't make the connection between your argument and their own addiction.
Some of the challenge comes down to generational gaps. I was arguing about the impact of TikTok and phone addiction with my brother. He insisted that it was just like his own generation (X) being addicted to TV or video games. But it really isn't the same. You couldn't lug around some heavy box around to watch TV everywhere you went, and the shows actually required some attention. I was also trying to explain the difference between pop culture and dopamine culture, one that caters to the lazy brain and the other that hijacks the brain.
It fell on deaf ears though. I suspect this is because he wants to believe that giving his kids iPads and letting them roam free online won't harm them. Teaching class after class of screenagers has convinced me that he's wrong. It's a problem, and I think a hard pass on screens in the house is the main way out of this mess.
My experiences interacting with high school students in recent years have greatly impressed me. They are doing so much more independent critical thinking, having discussions, researching issues, then they are given credit for. I wouldn't say that young folk are incapable of action; I've found them eager to act but without supportive guidance or enough knowledge of byzantine systems to get started. It's on adults to provide better assistance and knowledge so they can move on their ideals.
As a freshmen in college, I agree with so much of what he has said in this letter. The fact is, is that there’s a large percentage of us who would absolutely agree, but we’re seemingly utterly helpless when it comes to taking action.
I don’t think that there’s a big difference in thought between high school-aged kids and parents; it’s just the disconnect that, well, leads us astray. Thanks for sharing Ted!
Why are you utterly helpless and unable to take action? I’m genuinely curious.
I believe this notion of ‘helplessness’ comes from how we view the outlook of our future. Very often responses would sound similar to “It’s all going down the drain anyway, so there isn’t much for me to do.”
We’re constantly reminded of how bad everything is now, so when faced with making hard decisions, even with life-long benefits, typically we do nothing.
Hi -- Jadon's teacher here. Just wanted to send gratitude for all who are communicating on this topic: it is a serious one to have. Thus, why I shared it with my students. Ted, Jadon--keep the torch burning. And I promise to do the same.
Jadon implies that there were indeed others in his class who resonated with Ted’s arguments. We can’t reach everyone, nor should we try to do so. Let’s focus on the ones who ‘have ears to hear.’ They are the future.
I recently listened to a podcast on Conversations with Tyler and Jonathan Haidt. It was an excellent interview and well worth the listen. Jonathan tackles these same issues, and one can only hope that an effective backlash against social media is brewing.
Jadon, what insight! High-school student, undergrad, academic or global managing director, whatever your ‘label’ Jadon, it’s a great read
Best not risk unintentionally offending when we want to applaud!! (Loudly)
There's only one way to justify charging tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for a college education: to portray it as a financial investment that will pay dividends over a lifetime of working. All of the money flowing into higher ed (including from government subsidies like grants and loans) has distorted the perception of what college is for. Now it's a means to an end, a certificate that (hopefully) allows one entry into a white collar profession and a commensurately greater paycheck.
Take that to its logical conclusion and why would anyone choose a major other than engineering, comp sci, business, pre-law, etc.? It's no paradox that many more Americans attend college now compared to the 1960's and yet programs like humanities are dying.
Even worse is what these perverse incentives are doing to college students. If the goal of college is to go work at a bank there is no point in rebellion or exploration. Instead It's "do your homework, get good grades, punch the clock, keep your head down, don't make trouble." Is it any wonder that the current generation of college students is overwhelmingly conformist and risk averse?
Mr. Gioia, Despite having a lively ongoing conversation with you in my mind for several months, this is the first time you’ll hear me. I’m a mom to an 11 year old daughter. We uninstalled wifi from our house in January of this year. The impact has been profound. We are not selfish, we were hypnotized. There are no shortcuts. I feel I have a brain again that has the space to choose and reflect and follow long threads of thought. I have space to be available for the people in my house and to myself. I have space to act deliberately in the world. I even took on the ‘writing advice’ to write everything that happens for thirty days! My peace of mind has elevated substantially. After a week of experiencing what it’s like to live with two phoneless parents, my daughter said no way does she ever want to live with wifi again. There are no shortcuts. Thank you Jadon for making sure your voice gets heard. Never stop speaking up!
I think you have the answer: turn it off. (You can always turn it on in short spurts, but maybe “off” should be the default mode.)
Yay!! we are a society of two:))
Thank you for sharing this exchange! Young people respond in various ways to the atrocities they witness on social media. Just this morning, hundreds across the bay area took action to shut down a military contractor and social media played a key role in cultivating the empathy that drove them to take action—21 years to the month that we did so back in 2003 responding to the invasion of Iraq. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/history-might-not-repeat-but-it-certainly
Young students sense manipulation very keenly, I think. They may not know exactly how it is working or what to do about it, but they sense it and resent it. I know I did.
Every society struggles with how best to educate the next generation, but today’s technocratic preoccupations obstruct even thinking about what most needs teaching and learning. What helps a “good life” most?
Thank heaven for astute young minds like Jadon’s, and hope they can support each other well enough for long enough until the “adult world” starts acting a little more like adults instead of callow gaping maws of insatiable greed and self-indulgence.