I came across 2 videos, one that amazed me, and one that spoke to me on a deeper level. They're each on two quite difference topics, but the principle behind them mesh very well together.
I guess I'll start with the first once I saw, an
RSA talk on education paradigms and how education today stifles growth. Many of you may have heard this argument before, but the video is still worth a watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
Institutionalized education was something I never understood. It's an outdated system that forcibly aligns you to a specific way of thinking, and then expects innovation. It throws you inside a box and locks you in and then asks you to think critically.
The second, which I just came across on Reddit today, is on game development. A genius, Bret Victor, demonstrates his approach on what game development should be. Again, it comes down to, why are we still relying on an outdated system designed to fulfill the needs of a different generation. Anyone into programming or design should definitely give this a watch. It blew my mind. Minds like this, that throw aside convention and rewrite the way we do, are far too few.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlI-gPu3SPI
I found that this was actually an except of a talk Bret gave as CUSEC 2012, titled "Inventing on Principle".
http://vimeo.com/36579366
And again, what he had to say blew my mind. It's an hour long, but I think everyone should watch it, not only code-junkies. He demonstrates is approach to real-time manipulation on coding, gaming, models and animation, but he also goes on to talk about his principles behind it. The software demonstrations end at around the 34-35 minute mark and then he talks about ideas and principles. About why we still continue to do things a certain way because that's the way they're done. He puts it much more eloquently that I ever could, and it's too much to explain right here, so just go and watch it.
The line that hit me was:
"Your career counselor's not going to come back to you and say that you should start a personal crusade. In a social field they might, but not in technology. Instead, the world will make you define yourself by a skill. That's why you have a major in college. That's why you have a job title." This was something I've been struggling with since Grade 12. I have huge passions for science, photography, and design. However, I am forced to pick one, and even then, forced to focus on a very tiny specific area of Life Science. And because of time and monetary constraints, I've haven't been able to further my knowledge in the other two, and have all but abandoned them as my hobby for the moment. This may sound like a petty rants, but it goes much deeper than just "well obviously you have to focus on a specific field" or "doing a double major".
There is a fundamental flaw in the system today. In the ideologies and driving force behind education. Many people see it, if just barely. But it's one of those things that most feel can't be changed, because that's the nature of things. I want a world that fosters ideas. Where the primary focus is not acquiring knowledge, but that there are problems in the world that can be fixed, and we need minds that can think in such a way to see a solution. We need a change in the ideology and principles behind education and so many other aspects of life.
I could write a book on this, I have so much I want to say. I need to rant. But I don't have the time or mental focus to explain it all at the moment. So I'll let you guys do the talking.
EDIT: Also. here's Bret's website. Amazing stuff. The way this guy thinks, and the amount of things he can see a change in, it's mind boggling.
http://worrydream.com/
