How Can a Child Know the Future and Prepare for It?
Children are inherently dependent on what their elders provide, often accepting their circumstances helplessly. The helplessness of individuals, especially children, against the environment cannot be overstated. The world has countless groups with conflicting ideologies, shaped by their differing educations, causing divisions and misconceptions. People see the world through the lens of what they’ve been taught. Misguided education often leads to flawed perspectives.
Can an Individual Take Control of Their Own Education?
While it’s difficult to intervene in infancy, as people grow, questioning should become a fundamental part of life. Regardless of what one has been taught, everything must be questioned. As Socrates famously said:
“Everyone desires a good life. But without questioning, we cannot discern right from wrong. An unexamined life is not worth living.”
Questioning helps us recognize value, as thinking itself is rooted in questioning. Truth is intrinsically tied to inquiry. If living truthfully and taking charge of one’s own life is central to humanity, then questioning is inherently linked to being human.
Can We Rewrite Our “Programming”?
It might not be possible to completely change our conditioning, but we can improve and refine it. True, many people live as captives to ideological or religious biases, but individuals always retain some space for free will. We can start by avoiding radicalism in any belief system and refrain from making sweeping generalizations about large categories like philosophy, religion, or humanity. Broad statements such as “Philosophy is…” or “Humanity is…” are often rhetorical and prone to becoming obsolete as life and people evolve.
Demand Individualization in Education
Education is akin to inoculation, introducing new knowledge within the framework of one’s understanding. Hence, education tailored to one’s pace ensures success for all. Every individual’s learning speed, readiness, environment, motivation, and method are unique. Unfortunately, formal education often employs standardized, one-size-fits-all approaches. “Disruptive” or “lazy” students are often victims of an impersonalized education system. Children, open to being “programmed” by society, often become victims of systems and surroundings.
Therefore, demanding education tailored to individual needs, and governments supporting such individualized systems, appears critical.
Growth Requires Maturity
To grow, one must leave behind the helplessness of infancy. As people mature, their dependence on others should decrease. Otherwise, they risk remaining “children of society,” carried along by its indoctrination. True adulthood means taking responsibility for one’s decisions. An adult asks not only, “Why is my life this way?” but also, “What is my purpose? What do I desire? Have I made the most of my opportunities, or have I passively waited for things to fall into place?”
Hope Must Be Renewed Like the Day
Each day brings a fresh start, much like a newborn child or a new attempt. The process of questioning our conditioning must be ongoing. Society exerts immense pressure on the individual; so much so that conforming to others’ expectations is often seen as synonymous with being human. To maintain hope in both society and oneself, it’s essential to remember that struggles are not unique to any one individual. Others are living through similar challenges, and we are not alone. Humanity continues to progress because things are, ultimately, improving.
Find Your Own Answers Beyond Institutions
Institutions offer simple labels as answers, but true understanding comes from personal reflection. In politics, for example, instead of aligning entirely with “left” or “right,” one could adopt the best aspects of both. Similarly, rigid adherence to positivism or idealism is limiting. Human thought tends to be sharp in rhetoric but flexible in practice.
Universities, once centers of philosophical thought, often act more as diploma mills today, prioritizing certification over deeper inquiry. However, even in science or academia, a person cannot be fully human unless they critically evaluate what they learn.
The Individual’s Future Is Obscured
While enjoying the conveniences of modern life, individuals may forget they are often tools of societal systems. Society demands payment for the “benefits” it offers. Social media, for instance, is not designed for individual happiness, nor are education systems established to cultivate personal fulfillment. History is full of mythic narratives, ideologies, and religions shaping humanity.
Plato and his contemporaries recognized the difficulty of reforming adults and turned to politics through education. Today, their vision of cultivating virtuous individuals is largely sidelined in academia, which prioritizes producing knowledge over fostering character. Yet, circles of philosophical inquiry still nurture these ideals. Surrounding oneself with people committed to growth and enlightenment is perhaps the most significant step one can take toward self-improvement.
