I love independence and education should give us the tools necessary to live free no matter the times. We must learn how to argue our cause and learn to live intelligently so we can live how we want.
Below I outline a curriculum I recommend to students who want to increase their intelligence and independence. Some of this we learn in school. The rest we gain through interaction with intelligent people and contemplation.
Information
1. Study History. Mark Twain wrote that history doesn’t repeat itself but that it certainly rhymes. I disagree. All events repeat themselves. Only the players change. We can test current opinions and events and safely predict the future if we know what happened in the past and discover the patterns that always repeat. We’ve always had wars, poverty, corrupt politicians, people who make poor decisions and those who make intelligent ones. Arnold Toynbee (perhaps history’s greatest historian) did an entire study of historical patterns and published what he learned in A Study Of History. I recommend it to all students. Only those ignorant of the past say we can’t predict the future.
2. Study Economics. We can’t gain independence without financial freedom. To do this we must understand how money works. We can study the financially independent and observe their habits. I reject the view that only a certain amount of money exists and as long as others have it I never will. With millions of millionaires in
Skills
1. Master Language. We make sense of the world through our senses and we make sense of our senses with language. With limited language we have a limited ability to reason and understand why things happen as they do. We think in sentences (the basic unit of thought). We can only think logically, clearly, elegantly and concisely if we can formulate logical, clear, elegant, concise sentences. Those who have mastered language can outthink and manipulate those who haven’t. P.T. Barnum knew this so he coined the expression, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
2. Reject Group Think. We lose the ability to reason and we make emotional decisions when we let groups think and conclude for us. This includes political parties. Groups survive this way. The leaders feed off the individuals. I always try to think for myself. This takes constant practice. I practice my independence and I’ve discovered the power of “No” as I’ve practiced my independence.
3. Cultivate Intelligent Friends. I recommend we nurture relationships with people smarter than us. We will learn something new everyday and develop our minds. Most intelligent people probably do many of the things on this list too. Education requires change. Those who fight new, better ideas and ways to live don’t really want an education. I try not to associate much with people like that. We shouldn’t lament if we outgrow friends. We should rejoice!
4. Fashion A Life Philosophy. Decide how you want to live and what you want to do with your life. Don’t let others define you. This includes family, friends, celebrities or the latest fashion. Remember those who stand for nothing will fall for anything.
5. Develop A sense Of Proportion. You will think the future looks bleak if you listen to too much television news and gossip. We live better today than kings lived 100 years ago and the future looks even brighter. Those ignorant of history don’t realize this.
6. Practice Gratitude. Thousands of people make our lives possible. We owe a lot to people we will never meet. When you do get the chance to meet some of the people who make your freedom possible thank them. Also constantly remind yourself how good you have it. This has a very liberating effect. Those ignorant of economics don’t realize this.
7. Maintain Physical And Mental Health. Many young people abuse their health. Once you lose it you lose your independence. Start early in life with exercise and a good diet. Reject all drugs and alcohol and poisons to the mind we get from television, film, music and other media. Develop a good relationship with a doctor and speak openly about how you feel.
Copyright Bert Lorenzo, 2009
