The Philosopher

Philosophy (from Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, literally “love of wisdom”) is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophia has been called The Mother of All Sciences.

Sir Ken Robinson, in his “How to escape education’s death valley” states
that the more successful Alternative Education Systems should become the
norm, because they are clearly more successful.

I think that some day we maybe able to find great schools, and people like
Sir Robinson will help that day come. But it will be too little too late,
certainly for us. In this final chapter I will ask you to take Extreme
Ownership of Your Education, and here is Jocko Willink explaining the
gravity of the words Extreme Ownership.

Extreme Ownership of Your Education, simply means Self Education. It
means learning at your own pace, by your own means, in a sequence that
matches you the best. This is also the meaning of the opening quote by Sun
Tzu “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated
warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

Education is not about GPA, diploma, or career. It is about growing up, it
is about being healthy, and strong. Regardless of where you are headed,
whether or not that direction includes Medical School, or a University. You
need to Self Educate before sitting down in those classrooms. A classroom
may not be the place where you find knowledge, not always, not reliably.

Setting off on an endless Audiobook Adventure, to last you many years, or
even decades, is probably the most illustrative example I can fit in a
sentence. Astra Taylor, the woman behind the unacceptable Zizek!,
Examined Life, and now Democracy further explains, and I think
serves as an example of what it means to Self Educate.

The beginning of self education starts with a class of teachers often
called Science Popularizers. They don’t just teach science, but also
restore the connecting lines between all the Daughters of Philosophia,
lines lost due to the bleaching effect that categorization of knowledge,
standardization of sequence of learning, and standardized testing causes.

The Storytelling of Science is a good overview of who these teachers are,
how they think, of their energy and class.

Education is simply too important to be put in someone else’s hands. It is
your mind, your life, your growing up, your own responsibility. Above all,
your body of knowledge has massive infuence over your private
decision-making, over your freedom of choice, over your freedom of will.
Decision-making is one of the most sacred things in life, and only you
should have control over that.

I urge you to forget the idea that you must be taught to learn. I urge you
to accept that great responsibility yourself. You must take extreme
ownership of your own Self Education.

A Short History of Nearly Everything Audiobook. The Body (His latest book). All of Bryson’s Audiobooks.

Audiobook version of A People’s History of the United States is 34 hrs and 8 mins long.

Abridged version (8 hrs and 44 mins ) read by Matt Damon is here: A
People’s History of the United States

47 Video YouTube Playlist