Siddharth Mishra

The fact is that you probably have never been allowed to be a free thinker. From my experience, educational institutions have been mostly about 'disciplining' rather than teaching. It might sound dramatic but when we examine the things we have been subjected to - asking permission to drink water, asking permission to visit the loo, compulsory attendance, timings for lunch, corporal punishment, standardised testing, rigid curriculum. “The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don't know how to be submissive, and so on - because they're dysfunctional to the institutions.” - Chomsky. Educational institutions, especially in their traditional forms, have operated more like factories than nurseries for free thought. Often a plant in a nursery, an animal in the zoo gets more love and care. Modern schools and colleges often place all the blame for failure of a student on parenting. We are a generation scarred by the trauma inflicted by the education system we've endured. This is not merely an academic issue; it is a societal one. A population that is trained to follow rather than to think is one that is vulnerable to manipulation, whether by political, corporate, or ideological forces. We have become so brain dead, that we have almost stopped questioning this rotten system. Recently, I noticed a lot of criticism surrounding online cohort courses taught by individuals. I understand the concerns, and I've addressed them in a previous post. But if we look deeper, the bigger issue is that after 16 years of formal education, many learners still can’t teach themselves anything. Most of us don’t know how to read a book, absorb information, distill it into knowledge, and apply it effectively. The college took 20 lakhs for a B. Tech degree and didn’t even secure you a placement. Forget about nurturing your ability to think critically - it did the opposite, my reader, it stifled you. I loved computer science. Deliberately decided not to study it in sub-par Indian engineering college, I hardly attended classes in my college. I am completely self taught in this area. Was it the right decision ? I don't know it yet. However, One clear benefit which I got was the ability to teach myself something. Absorb information better. I wanted to tell you this - You can learn things on your own. You need nobody. Believe me. I am saying this, even though I have a course of my own. There are amazing classic literature available for almost any subject, in the form of books and videos. Research papers are available on arxiv. At best, a teacher can speed up the learning process and save you some time. But if you don’t break out of the matrix and learn how to learn on your own, your mind will be crippled. You’ll start believing that you can’t learn anything without taking a course. I once read something that stuck with me: "If I started a school to teach babies how to walk, within a decade, people would believe that enrolling in the school is essential for learning to walk." Autodidacts are ruling the world. It is not a luxury - it is now a necessity to be one. How do you start? Pick up a book, lecture, or paper and dive in. Ask questions. Pause and think deeply. Write down your thoughts. The human brain is amazing—you'll be surprised at how much better a thinker you'll be in six months.

These guys are smart. If anyone is interested, you should apply.