A Pitch to Change the World

Our current education system is certainly flawed as it teaches little more than how to work hard. Sure you do acquire some new skills in your various classes and you get to hear about some interesting facts. But how much of that information would you be able to recall a month after classes let out for break? Maybe quite a bit; your memory may be better than mine. I do not mean to say that we should do away with the current system in its entirety. There are factors that we should definitely keep and in fact expand as far as we possibly can.

Too School for Cool is an organization that is striving to develop research programs for students at all institutions.  Many universities, especially those part of the Ivy League, have begun programs for research in many fields. Unfortunately they are few and far between.  A very minimal number of students get the chance to take part in these opportunities because of limited funding for research at a given university.  Our company plans to help develop these programs for not just college students but for those in high school as well. Some students discover their passions early and want to go head first into a program of their desired field. These students crave learning and want to start making a true difference as soon as possible.

Its not fair that the plans of society hinder these talented young minds from expanding their knowledge.  These students don't want to waste time learning European history. They want to discover the cure for diseases, become a neuroscientist, or maybe become a talent agent.  The point is though that if they spend all of their time caught in the rat race of a broken system they may never learn the things they want to learn. They may lose the passion for the field because they never got the chance to enter the field when they wanted. Congratulations society, you just stopped the cure for cancer from coming about.

A New Education Part II

My last article details many failures of the current education system. I also discuss the idea of learning by doing, which provides real world experience and better motivation for discovering individual passions.  Many universities have begun this style of education through research programs. This has been the most effective learning method thus far as it encourages healthy competition to learn while also fostering new discoveries. The minds of the young can be the most useful when utilized properly and we should encourage this type of learning for all students.

The unfortunate aspect of the research programs is that they are too expensive to offer to all students and therefore many growing minds are left out of the best opportunities for them. I advocate that these types of research opportunities should be the main focus of funding in universities. I also believe that many of these types of programs should be provided to students in K-12 who have discovered their passions and would like to begin focusing on work that will benefit them in the long run. Let us allow the next generation to shine as they should and let us not hinder advancements to humanity that could have been had.

A New Education

Dear "Bored of Education", so are we.  At what point in the lives we truly live will we have to sit in rows listening to lectures and then be tested on our ability to retain that information?  And at what point in human history did we decide that the most useful skills to teach were attendance and the regurgitation of what has already been said?  Why do we stress ourselves to complete pointless tasks to be given a piece of paper that says we are qualified to do a job that we don't enjoy? Dear "Bored of Education", so are we.

Our current education system fosters students to procrastinate and do what they deem necessary to complete their assignments. Only few students put forth the effort required to truly learn the material. Why? Because they are overwhelmed by the general course material that the current system decided everyone should learn. But an artist is never going to need to learn more than basic math and a physicist doesn't need to memorize the historical dates and people of various countries. Can we not Google when the Declaration of Independence was signed? Or who the ruler of England was in 1865? When students are blasted with the teachings of five entirely different courses, they have no room to discover their passions so that they might specialize towards their dream career. 

Remember back to when you first learned to drive; you were given two types of courses. The first a class setting where you were tested on rules of the road and what various signs implied to the drivers. Now think about this one for a minute and tell me something important you learned there. A significant rule of the freeways and highways is the maximum speed of 65 mph unless otherwise stated.  When you think about this consider how often you truly follow it. Do you always go 65 mph or less? If you're anything like me, probably not.  Actually driving on the roads gives you an entirely different perspective on safe driving however.  

When you see every other car moving 80-90 mph, are you going to hug the right side and cruise at 65 toward your destination? Fuck no! You're gonna have cars flying by you going anywhere from 10-30 mph faster.  Through this you learn by experience and gain a better understanding of truly how to drive. This is exactly why the second style of class pairs you with an experienced driver to guide you through the interactions you face. And you drive! You practice and research the required skills and one day they allow you to drive on your own. A student learns by doing, what a novel idea! 

The new education system will take the strengths of the previous, modifying the the downsides to foster better learning and specialization. We must allow our future generations to expand their creativity and become free thinkers, not force them into a structured and conformed way of thinking that will get learners trapped in the rat race of life.  So let our children be free to discover their true selves.  Let our children specialize in what they can excel in and what they enjoy most.  And once they have found their path, join them with a professional whom may best guide their learning on a more personal level.  

This will foster a new generation of thinkers who not only know their practice better but also be more excited to attend their work and cooperate with other experts.  This generations will be self-actualized to their work and will be committed to both excellence and innovation in their individual fields. The new generation of people will have the capacity to innovate as our forefathers did before the current system had been implemented.  Please, wake up America. Discover yourself and change the world. 

The Wim Hof Method

Have you ever wanted to increase your metabolism? How about your immune system? Your body temperature? Your heartbeat? All of these have to do with your autonomous body processes, which are the ones that are normally run automatically by your brain without you having to think about it. Unfortunately, these systems are inefficient to adaptation to new environments. Our bodies tend to respond slowly to stimuli and sometimes act too late. Wim Hof has developed a breathing method that allows us to take command over these autonomous systems and use them to our liking.

For a little bit of background, Wim Hof has earned himself the nickname "Iceman" through his 20 Guinness World Records for withstanding extreme temperature. He has climbed Mt. Everest and Kilimanjaro wearing nothing more than shorts and shoes, and he has run a full marathon without food and water through the hottest desert at an average 122 degrees. He has also recently been injected with a powerful virus that causes nausea and vomiting.  Throughout the duration of the effects, Wim experienced no more than a slight headache.

The method is very detailed and takes large amounts of training to complete. So below, I have added a link to an article detailing the extent of the method and providing additional information on Wim Hof. I have already applied some of his training to my own life and I hope to spread the uses of the great breathing method on his behalf.

High Existence - The Wim Hof Method Revealed
http://highexistence.com/the-wim-hof-method-revealed-how-to-consciously-control-your-immune-system/

Genius III - An Interview with Michael Spence

Michael Spence has an eye-opening theory on money and work. Like many people he sees that the money made by a business is forwarded straight to the owners of the organization. The people who work hard to make the products and provide services are merely just paid for their time. Industries have merely shifted away from true slavery to more of a paid slavery. We don't have control of our lives; we are told when we must work, eat, and go home; and we are told to do tasks at risk of punishment if not completed. Under this system we invest our time for a payment that never seems to be enough. If you truly wish to work hard and become rich, then a career working for someone else's organization will leave you greatly dissatisfied. Spend your time searching for worthwhile investments that provide you with steady income as an asset. Have your money work for you, otherwise you will spend your life slaving away for money. You can read more deeply about these types of ideas in Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

People Under The Stairs

Have you heard about the People Under The Stairs? Thes One and Double K have been performing for almost 20 years and selling out shows while being masters of the DIY ethic. Under this method, the pair have managed to remain independent of music labels while selling out venues all around the world. If you still haven't heard of them after all this time then I would highly recommend you listen to LA Song and check out their album "... Or Stay Tuned". These make up an excellent introductory selection to their funky and R&B style.

The main reason that this group produces such great quality music stems from their ability to remain free of music governments telling them what they can and cannot play. From the first song to playing their discography on shuffle I've been extremely pleased with all of the group's music. I hope they find themselves able to remain independent and performing to sold out concerts for as long as they live. For the day that The P decides to stop performing, the game of rap and hip hop will lose some of its greatest talents.

Genius of Money ~ Chapter 9

Faith, Hope, and Love

The chapter opens with a poem from T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. In her writings, she describes how we love and hope for the wrong things, but faith is always present. John Bloom goes on to relate each of these as 'Elements of an Appreciative Economy'. By slowing your inner processes down, you can control your decisions and curb your impulses to solve problems rather than reacting emotionally to them. 

Bloom believes that Faith "is built upon a complex of outer and inner inquiries and experiences over time." This relates to the idea of brand allegiance in the free market. The idea is that you test the waters with new brands, but after using multiple products from that brand you automatically make purchases of that brand over others for related products. While Faith focuses on assurances from the past, Hope looks more toward the future. Hope is the projection of your inner feelings and intentions and is the center of the moral and ethical part of you that can only be accessed by yourself. Love. What is Love? I really enjoyed how a few of Bloom's words discussed it. "The practice of love also generates an energetic field around me that unconsciously interacts and exchanges with others." So love is connected to being as opposed to doing. In the deepest sense, Love is described as "one way to bring healing through the consummation of purchase transactions. 

Each of these are qualities of the soul that can be powerful factors into your decision making. You should let them guide you, but only once you learn what to Hope for, what to Love, and where to place your Faith. The ideal goal to be reached here is to have the three qualities of the soul connect and align toward their proper goals. Only then can you use you full inner processes to make wise financial decisions and to not react emotionally.