First, Know Thyself. Then, Pick a Career Path

The way that education can lock us into careers, or at least substantially direct the route we travel, would not be so problematic if we were excellent judges of our future interests and characters.

He urges individuals—and parents especially—to abandon the desire for instant gratification and easy answers as early performance on tests isn’t an indicator of professional success. He emphasizes traits over particular skills—be curious, flexible, open-minded, adventurous, experimental, and playful. Try and fail and try again. Explore. Read outsid... See more

Now consider our current situation. Despite all the language professing otherwise, in general the education system of the United States is based entirely on genetic determinism. A child is born assumed to have innate traits, including, for example, a preference as to what they want to be when they grow up (somehow just waiting fully-formed inside o... See more

"We teach every young person the same subjects in mostly the same ways, irrespective of individual talents and preferences. Students who don’t learn best by sitting still at a desk are made to feel somehow inferior, while children who excel on conventional measures like tests and assignments end up defining their identities in terms of this weirdly... See more

Navigate the world on their own terms. The best high potential youth are often unconventional in some ways. And if you’re looking for someone unconventional and high potential, they’ll often have a rationale for their unconventional approach. Ideally they can describe their weird path in an internally coherent way without being egotistical or defe

... See more

Students need more exposure to the way everyday things work and are made.

“Making mathematics mandatory,” wrote Hacker, “prevents us from discovering and developing young talent. In the interest of maintaining rigor, we’re actually depleting our pool of brainpower.”

In a paper titled “A Mathematician’s Lament,” Paul Lockhart rails against the modern ... See more