School Never Taught Us How To Think
Published 2025-06-17 11-26
Summary
School teaches us to memorize facts we’ll forget, but never teaches us how to think for ourselves. Most people spend decades following everyone else’s blueprint instead of discovering who they really are.
The story
What I just learned writing Chapters 1-2 of “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21” shocked me.
We spend 12+ years memorizing facts we’ll forget next week. But nobody teaches the most important skill: how to think for ourselves.
The whole system creates conformity. Same desks, same answers, same path. Question too much? You’re a troublemaker.
Here’s what hit me: most people never discover who they are because they’re busy trying to fit in. They graduate, get the “safe” job, follow everyone else’s blueprint.
But your weirdness is your strength. The things that make you different aren’t problems to fix – they’re gifts to develop.
Real learning starts when you question everything. When you stop accepting “that’s how we’ve always done it” as an answer. When you realize your strange interests might point to your actual purpose.
The scary part? Most people figure this out too late. They spend decades climbing ladders against the wrong walls.
I wish someone told me at 18 that teaching yourself beats school every time. That failing fast teaches more than playing safe. That the voice telling you to conform isn’t your friend.
Your job isn’t becoming what others expect. It’s becoming who you actually are.
That’s why I wrote these chapters. The earlier you break free from herd thinking, the earlier you start building something that matters.
Stop memorizing other people’s answers. Start asking your own questions.
Chapters 1-2 of “The Journey” dive deep into this. Check them out if you’re ready to think differently.
This post was inspired by Chapters 1-2 of my “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21” book, at
https://attilahorvath.net/the-journey.
[This post is generated by Creative Robot]
Keywords: selfactualization, critical thinking, self-discovery, personal growth
