I found myself in a conversation yesterday that made me realize how differently I think sometimes. The conversation was about education and what kids should and should not be learning. I suggested that the Jaques Maritain idea needs to be tried someday. The idea that younger students should forget learning math and learn art and languages instead. Their human brain isn’t developed enough to handle complex mathematical problems. It is far more useful to wait a few years and have them pick up those concepts in a few months instead of trying to do this painfully over their younger years.
The conversation got curious because this teacher suggested math is far more useful than languages. I was surprised. I just assumed that being able to communicate with other people was the highest thing we can aspire to. That understanding and connecting ourselves to how other people life and what they think is the whole point of education.
It seems I might be wrong. Languages are only useful when you travel on vacation and even then not so much because you can simply conduct your business in English. After all, we don’t travel that much anyway. So math is a far more useful thing to teach our children.
Now, I’m not suggesting that math in any way shape or form is not important. I am not suggesting that we pin languages against math and have them fight to the death. I am however taken somewhat aback how different I think than other people. This might be one of the reasons why the work I do takes so long and doesn’t net me profit so easily. It seems I focus on being human and finding the human being in the other. I do this in my photography and my writing.
I could focus of course on math, or maximizing my efforts financially and by being followed socially, but I think I’ll stick to who I am. I may be different. I may think differently but I am truly happy and living a meaningful life. I wouldn’t trade that for anything and you can count on that!
Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@antoine1003
