The Military Origin of our Awful Education
Prussia speaks in our education system still today, its cogs and gears click and clack as it churns and grinds more of that officer class of citizen so destined to act out their orders! Despite Prussia's death, its ghost haunts all education, and we have forsaken a purpose of education to the creative men of the world.
During the various Prussian wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, The German Warrior spirit of Prussia found themselves in need of plenty of officers- capable of following orders to the exact word. In this process, Prussian officer schools were formed, and their effectiveness was astounding for exacting order upon the Prussians. So incredible was its effectiveness, that it was taken by the Victorian British, by the Americans, and by most-other nations of Europe- and its application wasn't just to officers, but upon children too. It set them up effectively for the demanded, and well-salaried positions within industrial work- for it was a time of industrialisation!
But you'll see now, that the time for industrialisation is coming to some close. The people born from this education have hands for following orders, and those same hands are no longer as demanded. They are plentiful, thanks to our education, and they are replaceable, thanks to the birth of the AI Revolution. In doing and making a fancy out of this education system, we have become forgetful of the old education... the education as given to the Noble class of society, the education that served the purpose of power and the vitality of life. This education, was a mentorship.
Even as far ancient, as Alexander the Great-- the Macedonian was mentored by Aristotle. Even in our names... a John Smith. The surname of Smith, carries the work of that family... a blacksmith, as our fathers were in tradition the model for a mentor. They mentored on our capabilities as men, and they mentored on how to use our hands in creation and with direction. Sadly, both mentorships, from dedicated mentors and from our fathers are mostly gone in our day and age. The corrosion of the village, of the extended family, and finally of the central family... has resulted in many absent fathers, absent economically- and economically they provide their child to this Prussian Education System.
Despite this, one might recoil and ask "What is this devilry" about this education system- but yet it exists well, because it benefits most normal people, as most normal people do not have the spirit of creativity... even as a single kernel of corn that could grow into an earful. It is a gross exaggeration to exclaim "All people are creative", as it puts its curse... or blessing upon all people. It demands of them the capacity to create excellent and new ideas, within domains that have few new ideas. It ignores the upfront capital required for creativity... and so a great many creatives are homeless from their financial fires or frustrated of their ability to create. Those creatives who do not, clip their roots and reject all vitality in life... they numb themselves in sedatives like Games, Porn and Drugs... and those that are lucky enough to have the capital to create will find that new ideas are not always excellent ideas. The vast majority are terrible, and terrible ideas are rewarded in terror- as seen with the new idea of Communism.
So with this addressed, the Prussian Education System is beneficial to the vast majority of relatively normal people... but it leaves the creative few stuck. They do not gain an education that nurtures creativity, they are not rewarded for innovation, they are left often without direction to find their own vitality to their life, and often drink the poison of a bog... those sedatives I have mentioned. Their solution is found in the ancients, as Alexander the Great sought out mentorship from Aristotle... In my own life, I stumbled... I crawled and I drank plenty of that bog of sedatives, that was until I stumbled upon a mentor who took me in for some years and under him I learnt to sharpen my thought, critique, tongue and to give fire and action to hands that had previously been chained to great rusting balls of Iron. Despite this, I put caution- in learning from a mentor, we engage in the mimicry of him- and in my own mentor, he was exceptionally disagreeable and narcissistic.. it took some work on my own to clean this off... but that was a small cost to the lessons gained.
I say all this, yet I have no good advice, on how to find a Mentor. I know only that without a mentor... many Creatives will shrivel up and find their branches carry no leaves. It is certainly not easy, as all those capable of mentorship, are under the same system which degrades them. They have taken the word "mentor" and corrupted it in their institutions as a word, effectively as a sheepdog to keep sheep penned.
"When they give themselves out as wise, their little sayings and truths make me shiver: their wisdom often smells as if it came from the swamp: and indeed, I have heard the frog croak in it!
They are clever, they have cunning fingers: what is my simplicity compared with their diversity? Their fingers understand all threading and knitting and weaving: thus they weave the stockings of the spirit!
They are excellent clocks: only be careful to wind them up properly! Then they tell the hour without error and make a modest noise in doing so.
They also know how to play with loaded dice; and I found them playing so zealously that they were sweating." Thus spoke Zarathustra, and in this, you see how devious and capable scholars are. This playing with loaded dice is seen all too clearly in the Null Ritual, that statistical game of research paper to make their insignificant claims seem significant! It is seen too clearly in the reproducibility crisis plaguing Academia, yet it remains unaddressed.
We finally at the very end also come to an interesting point. This Creative lifestyle, favours Men... as Masculinity and the use and direction of power as serving the vitality of life helps creativity. This is not to say Women can't be creative, but that it favours a masculine mindset. Contrarily... the Prussian Education system favours women... evidenced in how boys cannot be boys when about school, as their youthful vigour is stamped out, preferring that anxious orderliness that plagues a Feminine mindset. In doing so, those men who succeed in such an education system, they possess that Feminine mindset, and perhaps that is why we do not see any expressions of vitality or power seen within this. Already, in preferring this feminine mindset and view about the world, we have corrupted masculinity, alienated Men, and left them stumbling in the dark as I was 10 years ago.