The signaling theory of education is correct. Except a degree is not a signal of employability. It’s a signal of adherence to the dominant social status religion of the day.
Author: Isaac Morehouse
Isaac Morehouse is the founder and CEO of Praxis, an awesome startup apprenticeship program. He is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of freedom. He’s written some books, done some podcasting, and is always experimenting with self-directed living and learning. When he’s not with his wife and kids or building his company, he can be found smoking cigars, playing guitars, singing, reading, writing, getting angry watching sports teams from his home state of Michigan, or enjoying the beach.
People Who Are Fully Alive
The thing is, I’m one of those people who wants my drivers to leave me alone. But that’s because nine out of ten times they make boring small-talk, complain about weather or traffic, or spout off half-baked political rants. But when you have an encounter with someone fully alive? You could talk about meditation, sports, geology, or airplanes. It doesn’t matter. If they’re wide awake and alive about it, you feel it too and leave the encounter with more fuel in the tank then when you started.
When Reputation Matters
I wrote recently about the need to let your reputation die so you can remain free and not become a slave to the good opinion of others. But is concern for your reputation only dangerous, or does it provide value as well?
Being Wrong and Being Smart
Imagine someone who plays Trivial Pursuit. Getting a lot of answers right is impressive. But if someone gets every single answer perfectly correct every single time, something’s up. They memorized all the correct answers. They’re unerring, but also kinda dumb.
The Peace of Mind in Probabilistic Thinking
It’s very stressful to be confronted with questions and claims about culture, physics, politics, psychology, health, economics, history, ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy and feel the need to have a clear answer. Especially when answers immediately get interpreted as sides and you’ll get lumped in with some tribal collective blob and be associated with whatever bundle of biases they may have, real or imagined. It’s like behind every possibility lurks a mob shouting, “Are you with us or against us?!”
The First Rungs on the Success Ladder
If we accept some form of Maslow’s hierarchy, the most basic human challenges of food, shelter, and safety are taken care of. We’re born into the middle of the pyramid. This is not a bad thing. I don’t want my kids to have to scavenge for food and clothing. But because success compounds, those born into abundance can miss out on the first, most basic forms of success, and then find the rest out of reach.
Ignoring Information as a Form of Intelligence
I’ve seen my kids provide way too much information in several situations, and I have too. The inability to spot useless information is a sign of a young mind. The more intelligence is developed, the more information gets left out. People who tell you only the parts that really matter have a kind of genius.
The Best Advice Never Looks Like It
I’ve received some excellent advice in my life. Most of the time, it doesn’t seem like great advice. It seems like simple, obvious stuff I already know, or close enough. Then six months later I have the, “Ohhh, now I see. Wow. That was great advice.” I don’t know if this is because I’m arrogant…
Death is Not the Ultimate Sacrifice
At the moment she faced the decision of death or defacement, she heard the voice of God tell her step on the face of the crucified Christ. She, a devoted Christian, was asked by God there, in front of everyone, to disrespect the cross. She was asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Hills Worth Dying On
When I was young, every hill seemed worth dying on. Each step in life there are fewer. I’ve found that the smaller the number of things I think worth fighting for to the death, the happier I am. This isn’t because I’m less resolved or passionate about my life and goals. It’s the opposite. When…