(I went to an awesome school, that made parents teach something they knew to the class every year. This practice led to study of music history, art history, Greek, logic, different books, class plays, and various crafts that normally you see in specialty shops, not the classroom)
The bottom line had a very small slope and seemed to creep across the page making very little progress over time.
Forgive the ugly not totally representative graph. Think directionality.
This was the line for wisdom. The other line dipped down a bit but then rose at an exponential rate. The giant gap between these two lines is what concerns me. What good is all the knowledge in the world if we refuse to use it appropriately and make good decisions with it? All of those facts and stats have no purpose if we refuse to use some common sense.
As I have been speaking to my friends among the youth of my church, I have found that they worry that they are not the smartest, fastest, or best in their field of interest. This is a valid concern. No one wants to not be the best at what skills they plan to make their living. Yet, I am more concerned that none of their teachers has ever communicated the need to not just be good at a subject, but also the ability to explain the subject efficiently. Or the talent for explaining the subject to people without the field of interest. Or the acumen to see holes in the information, that would leave room for greater innovation. Or the ability to coordinate the intelligence of that subject matter with every other aspect of commerce.
We have driven these kids to worry about, STAR, ACT, SAT, PSAT, and the like but not given them any real expectation of what work will look like. How many of you have to take a test at work to show that you retained the information at your last meeting? IF not was that information not important? Should you have wasted your time in the meeting at all? Why are high-schooler prepared to take tests and not prepared to use the knowledge they are tested on effectively? The new graduates are not taken to well, when they try to impose text books upon the real world.
So what can be done? The schools are convinced, at least in TX, that every moment kids have the opportunity to be in school, that there is no better place for them to be. I detest this legislative sentiment. Give me a break, you really think that a kid who has memorized the Gettysburg Address will not have it sink in better among the fall leaves at the battlefield? Does the government think that any class when brought to life by real world experience can't become pertinent, necessary and even interesting for its' own sake? This is annoying.
Even after I am long out of college I find the most captivating people I talk to are those who have lived through difficulty and put knowledge to practice. This resulted in a greater reservoir of wisdom from which to draw upon for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, the people who are best able to captivate me, are those who cant rely on anyone else to solve their problems. They have to tread new paths, figure things out, and apply every ounce of their acquired knowledge to make things have a chance to work out--sometimes they still don't.
I guess the purpose of this post is a plea to start helping kids see natural consequences in every day situations. Things like dropping water and what happens allow a kid to see gravity and the properties of water in a different light. They might start looking beyond a formula of H2O and a spectrometer.
They might consider the real consequences of power hungry monarchs, the cost of war, or the weight of saving even one life. Please allow your own life to put your knowledge into practice and develop wisdom, so the next generation will know who they can turn to for some perspective.
Fight the good fight. Forgive the rant. Over the last two months I have been busy learning sugar free baking an cooking. Here is all that information put to good use.
Keto Cheesecake
Place eggs and cream cheese on counter for at least 2 hours, or 4 hours. If not possible place foil wrapped cheese and eggs in large bowl of warm water for 30 minutes.
Smile and Savour.
Crust
2 cups almond meal or flour
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon or ginger
3-4 Tbs. Erythritol or monk fruit granulated
If using unsalted butter add 1/4 tsp. salt
Put all ingredients, in the order listed, in a medium size bowl. Mix until looks like wet sand. Press into 9 in springform pan bottom covered with wax/ parchment paper, and grease the whole pan.place in the fridge while making filling.
Preheat oven 350 but place cake pan half filled with water on the lower shelf. This helps keep the temperature and humidity in the oven.
Custard
32 oz cream cheese room temp- 4 8 oz. packages
4 eggs minus one white - save for egg scramble
1 cup monk fruit sweetener
1 Tbs lemon juice, plus the zest of said lemon- can use tsp lemon powder for zest
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Place the cream cheese in bowl of a stand mixer- or large bowl with electric mixer ready. Turn on mixer until blocks of cheese are not distinguishable. Then with mixer running add sweetener, mix until just incorporated. Turn off mixer add lemon and vanilla. Then add the single egg yolk and turn on mixer. Add the eggs one at a time one afterward just as the last as the last just gets mixed in. Turn off mixer scrape sides and mix for 10-20 seconds so it is all one color.
Pour custard into crust put in oven for 40-47 minutes ( I am close to sea level for higher altitudes it might take 5 more minutes). Edge should be set, with center still wiggly. Turn off oven leave open with a towel for at least 30 minutes. Remove, continue to cool. Run butter knife around the edge to release the crust. Then refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Unmold and eat. Store well covered in fridge.
Recipe from Brown Bird kitchen.
