Into The Wilderness
Friday • December 18th 2020 • 8:46:54 pm
Just because the world is being tardy,
it does not mean you should be too.
In deed, if you fail to slowly make haste,
then the world will become darker for it.
Every Human must shine,
with Enlightenment.
I know it is hard to accept
that schools may not be working.
We all have so little,
and now even more even rugs are pulled from beneath our feet.
There is other stuff too,
from bad parenting to mutually assured destruction.
I am sorry, if you are looking for answers,
the best answers any of them will ever give you is: "How were we supposed to know?"
A solid foundation in reality is a good start in life,
sometimes we don't figure things out until it is too late.
I know this poem caught you early,
you have a long time to ponder all this.
And that too is a good start,
a proper Gentlelady or Gentleman questions everything, and takes nothing for granted.
I hope you are still in Middle School or High School,
and you get to walk to your desk, with a heavy step.
Slouch, perk up your ears like a Lion,
and take the whole situation apart.
The kids in the back figured it out already,
but that is as far as they got, they need more answers.
They need you!
the leader.
Maybe you can try thinking about debates,
learning from the way Great Beings argue the pretenders or the uneducated.
You are already given reasons,
now you need to find the truth.
It is never too early,
to begin to question everything.
One of the smallest arguments we are given, is the argument for mathematics,
well, it used to be given, it was that we aren't always going to have a calculator on hand.
Though it is cute to say that we have smart phones with calculators that have advanced mode,
there is a darker side to it.
Mathematics is not enough,
we need Programming, and we need to be Shell Literate as well.
Vapid and Insipid Mathematics poisoned the beauty of Science,
memorization of formulas obscured the simpler beauty beneath.
Memorization is another problem,
look how carefully you are nudged to abandon reason and understanding in favor of memorization.
The guillotine of failing a class because you tried to learn everything,
instead of passing with a straight A+ for merely cramming for the test - DOES chop your head off.
Look how proud your teacher is, that disingenuous show of teeth,
up for another raise, sold you for a paycheck and on some simple memes that you can get from a calendar.
One of the biggest reasons given to you,
is that you need a Diploma to get a Job.
I would like you to consider, that perhaps a real diploma,
is one that a University goes out of their way to give; you for your Great Achievements.
The diploma you receive at the end of your stay in school,
while it grants you access to higher institutions and more advanced jobs...
...it will not prevent those jobs from endangering or sacrificing you for profit,
the best lies are the ones that others maneuver you into believing, choices you would never make without their poison.
Your life, does not compare to other lives, no matter how precious or numerous,
there is no Life Arithmetic.
The closest you can get to a formula is this wonderful contradiction:
Each life is more important than the other.
If someone ever asks you to do something for the greater good, you are not sacrifice,
you quit your job or await your dishonorable discharge, and begin your search for Enlightenment and Wisdom, onward to becoming a Great Being.
If the best job you can possibly get, holds some measure of risk,
then you are going to need to try harder.
In case you are wondering,
- I care, and you can't undo that.
The harder, or the less worn path,
is that of becoming an Independent Inventor and Entrepreneur.
And you are not going to be the first or only one,
find the others, find a couple of co-founders, learn from your Noble Failures as well as Triumphant Successes.
So when someone says "Diploma",
you reply; "Check Your Premise", to quote an old friend.
When they say calculator,
you say: "Help me with programming not memorizing formulas."
When they box you in to memorize,
you get the others to drop the class, because you need a real education, one that helps you to wisdom and greatness.
While governments are smart enough to encourage learning,
as evidenced by mandatory education, they are not smart enough to tell a real education from a fake one.
I suspect the intelligence of governments is dictated purely by the voters,
in that wise people will not vote in uneducated representatives.
But you see the small catch-22 or egg and chicken problem,
a government can't easily become intelligent enough to encourage real education, without majority of voters being educated for real.
The way to do boot the process and hopefully sustain it,
is to mirror the educational paths of pioneers and founders, in a short: Self Education.
Self education is not that outrageous,
that is what real schools are supposed to encourage you to do, without any interference.
And let me underline that interference will destroy self education,
grades, cookie cutter curricula, the threat of repeating classes or even semesters can destroy a beautiful and delicate mind.
Self education is like learning to walk, except this time you learn to move in the Universe,
and instead of getting your feet to move quite right, you are trying to find the audio books that somewhat fit what you already know.
Finally on a related subject, it hurts me to say it, but "Free College" is not quite right,
it should be "Free Real and Effective Education that Shows Real Results"
Compare that to the an Important Vaccine, we don't need a mere Free Shot of Something spelled out with weasel words,
we need a real and effective vaccine that shows real results across millions of participants.
You should not allow yourself to think of College or University as something that gets you a good job,
a good job is nothing, the dumbest of liars can get you fired if you get in their way.
The thing you must look for is Knowledge, Wisdom, and Greatness,
as that opens all the gateways ahead of you; but more importantly that path is most worthy of you, it is the most human and healthiest of paths.
All you need to start is a small bowl of ice cream, an electric blanket, a fine pillow, a comfy bed,
and a narrated book by Carl Sagan, or Neil deGrasse Tyson, or Bill Bryson.
And then as you get going, and maybe take to liking new titles from best-seller lists and new authors you have never heard of,
find a a small, perhaps, pocket sized, well respected book on Bush Craft, and start getting ready for your first tiny venture into the Wild by buying a backpack and a tent...
You will need a pair of cut proof gloves, a 16" Bowie knife (don't do 14"), get high quality Damascus, Stag Horn Handle, fine leather sheath, full tang, obviously...
and a second actually useful Bush Craft Knife, and then splurge on a sharp fordable hand saw you can bring along to all adventures, and get an audio book, and fire going as everyone else is still hacking away.
As you read more and more,
and things start making sense, as you slowly and independently begin forming an accurate view of the world.
Bring a cheerful friend, or your mum, to a near by state park,
one with a fine beach and a tidy nick-knack store that also doubles as a hot dog stand and perhaps serves a fine and spicy vegetarian alternative.
Later on, grab couple of lovely and trusting friends,
fool enough to try to through-hike the Applachin Trail with you in one go from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin.
Though I highly recommend section hiking at first,
and also, please, please, visit Henry at Walden Pond each time you climb Katahdin.
You know, it is hard to miss the fact that a tent in bear country makes for a fine dorm room,
and that each white blaze you meet on the AT, doubles as an A+ that no teacher could possibly give you.
And that each time you make it up Katahdin with a hundred new books on your mind,
you do graduate ever higher.
I think both Henry and the Mountain grant you some of their height
- I know for certain without a doubt; and I know you can feel it too: You are meant to become a Great Being.