The Death Of The Modern Education System (& The Future Of Work)

Read this article only if you agree with the following statement: It’s getting harder and harder to make a living.

I’ve heard a lot of people say it. My own family, close friends, collegues at work. But why? Is life really getting harder? I personally don’t believe it is. I believe life has always been hard for those who perceive it as “hard”. And vice versa, life has gradually gotten easier for those who trust themselves enough to make life easier.

Don’t get me wrong, there is still some truth to life being hard. That’s mostly because the education system is about 200 years old. That’s not a joke. We’re practically living in an outdated system.

The problem isn’t that life is getting harder. The problem is people not questioning why we’re living in an outdated system.

Most people are stuck on autopilot, accepting whatever the system feeds them. But we haven’t always been like this. Let’s get a bit of context on where all of this actually started.

The Man Who Invented The School System

It all roots back to a guy called Horace Mann, who largely shaped the foundations of our modern public education system in earlier 19th-century in Prussia. The entire school system we have today reflects his beliefs. One man’s beliefs (you can already see where this is heading). He priortised certain aspects over others. The main one being lumping students into groups rather than treating them as individuals. It was a smart idea. It made “education” a lot easier. But it did absolutely nothing for the individual who naturally didn’t adapt well to this type of system.

You and I do not live in the world he lived in 200 years ago. You and I do not even live in the world our grandparents lived in. The 150-year period from the 1830s to 1980s was intentionally static, mainly driven by the value of the “good enough” mindset.

Static is not what humans are. It’s not what nature is. We’re hot and cold, just like the seasons. To be static is not in human nature.

That’s why all of our childhood had much more than “being one way”. It had creativity and enthusiasm. But that got dialed down more and more in the 12-16 year period of schooling where we had to adapt to this static and robotic system.

Every single bad habit we picked up in school came back to haunt us later on in life. Because those are the habits that destroy value, not create it.

Before the modern school system, life was worse, I admit that. Compared to what it replaced in the early to mid 19th century, our modern education system was pretty f*cking good. However, that was then, not now. People are stuck in the past. Compared to now, it’s not even possible to live by it.

That’s why in this letter, I want to offer you some ideas to help orient yourself for the digital world. If you don’t, you’re f*cked. You will accept whatever comes your way. This comes from the strong robotic habit you picked up at school (see how it all connects?)

If it’s worth five minutes of your time to consider the implications of this on your overall life, then keep reading.

Habits For The The 21st Century

This might sound weird, but you need to work on the same habits that got you in this position to get you out of it. What we’re trying to do here is unwire you from the “outdated system”. This is what self-help is all about. Unlearning and reverse-engeering what you’ve been taught.

1. Time-bound activites.

A class in school is 50-60 minutes long. That’s a rough estimate. Don’t come at me if yours was different. In the workforce, meetings are usually about the same. That’s weird, isn’t it? We go about our entire lives living by the rules of one system. You would think some things end at school, but they really don’t. And to be fair with you, it doesn’t even make sense.

How does different levels of work fit neatly into the same chunks of time?

Please make questioning everything a habit. Don’t be robotic. You don’t have to stick to certain time slots. You’re not a microwave cooking the same ready meal every single day. Decide how much time something actually needs and adjust from there.

2. Accepting whatever you’re assigned.

Life was a lot easier when we had homework assigned to us. Maybe that’s the exact reason why a lot of us think life is “getting harder”. Because we’re not being handed everything on a silver platter.

But life doesn’t work that way. You’re not in school accepting homework anymore. Accept it. The people around you who are offering you stuff (whether it be ideas, thoughts, advice, money, resources or anything else), are NOT your teachers. Life itself does not follow a homework like structure. You have a say in accepting or discarding anything that’s assigned to you.

A lot of the time, your homework looked the same way it did for the person who sat in the chair before you. The teacher can basically check out when it comes to assessing performance. The real world is dynamic and unpredictable. It changes constantly. Stop seeing everything as “homework”. School is over.

3. Obsessing over scores and ranks.

Why is an “A” good? Who is it “good enough” for? Oh and by the way, if you don’t think this applies to social media, it does. Why is “10,000+” likes good? Every habit or belief tripples down from the school system.

Does it make sense to reduce someone’s creativity to numbers and letters? Why do you think we compare ourselves to others so much? It comes from the needs of the teacher, the school, and the larger system to track and compare students.

It’s one of the first lessons we took away from school. To "always compare yourself to your peers!” The result of this habit and obsession is constant competition.

“Did I do well? Let me check out my peers first!”

“Did they get better grades than me?”

“Did they get more likes, shares, and engagement than me?”

“Did they make more profit than me?”

This is a very dangerous mindset. After spending 6 years on social media chasing viralty, I can tell you it quickly eats away at your motivation and enthusiasm.

Comparison kills creativity. Be inspired by the greats, of course. But don’t forget, you are inspired because of their unique value. Not because they’re like everyone else.

4. Sitting still for 8+ hours a day.

We spend our entire lives siting. It’s a terrible way to study. It’s a terrible way to work. It’s a terrible way to live. The same way we’re told to shut up and listen in classrooms is the same way we tolerate sitting quietly in cubicles.

And I get it. We don’t have a lot of control over our workplace or schedule which is why you NEED to find a way to work for yourself (we’ll move on to this next). But for now, just focus on moving your body as much as possible in your free time.

These are a few methods to unwire from the traditional ways of living and start replacing your industrial habits to ones more appropriate to the digital economy.

But it’s not enough. To thrive in the new digital age, you need to focus on learning new skills. Think about habits that destroy value, then replace them with skills that help create value.

If this letter has resonated with you on some level and you’re interested in learning more, I’ve got a free guide that will help you understand the important skills that are relevant today.

Branding. Persuasion. Writing. Marketing.

Grab it for free here: https://serkankozkiran.com/creator-business-essentials

I hope this article was helpful.

I’ll speak to you on the next one!

-Serkan