When I was in high school, I had to take a music appreciation class.  I remember sitting in the classroom one day as the teacher explained what a virtuoso was.  A virtuoso, he said, was someone who is so naturally talented in music that he does not need to practice.  My hand immediately shot up to say that doesn’t make any sense.  While plenty of people are naturally talented in music, it is insane to suggest the best musicians don’t actually have to spend countless hours honing their abilities and developing their chops.

Imagine thinking that Wayne Gretzky would have been as good as he was if he didn’t practice.

When it came time to take our next test, I was once again faced with this poor definition of virtuoso.  There was a true or false question that read: “Virtuosos do not need to practice.”  Foreshadowing the libertarianism that I would adopt later in life, I circled “False” knowing that the teacher was going to mark it incorrect.

And he did.  And when the marked test was returned to me, I again brought up that the definition was wrong.  He kind of laughed at me and didn’t budge.  I grumbled about it and moved on.

My protest didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.  I’m no better or worse because of that test question, but I bring this up because it demonstrates some important points about modern education.

This wasn’t a class in a government-run high school.  I went to a Catholic high school, and while we can talk about the differences between “public” and “private” schools, they nearly all operate on the same schooling system.  This system judged me on whether I could regurgitate back what was dictated to me.  It didn’t care if I had my own thoughts about it.  It didn’t care that I could apply empirical evidence to test a theoretical definition.

Is this what we want for our children?  Do we want children who grow up to think whatever they’re told to think?  Or do we want our children to be able to take up a position because they can defend it with a logical argument? 

This example has even deeper problems.  The idea that a virtuoso is simply born with a talent that requires no maintenance paints a picture in a young person’s head that some people are just innately lucky to have a skill that gives them an advantage over others.  It means that you don’t have that much control over your own destiny.  You’ve got a talent?  Great, no need to work on it and develop it.  This is an excellent way to keep potential untapped and locked away from the rest of the world.

Don’t be so surprised as we see the average person’s ability to have a decent conversation that requires original thought continually erode.  Look at how they’re trained to think in their most formative years: they’re not.

Picture credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart_1.jpg