the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up

I set an ambitious goal for myself earlier this year to attempt to watch a Ted Talk on a daily basis. A month or so ago, when I actually began to implement this goal, I stumbled upon a 2006 Ted Talk by Sir Ken Robinson, a purportedly internationally-known leader in the development of education and innovation. In his presentation, titled "Schools Kill Creativity," he essentially spends 20 minutes communicating that it is not a mere coincidence that the Industrial Revolution and rise of public education occurred simultaneously, for public education systems came into existence to satiate the needs of an industrialist society. 

Given that I watched this particular presentation in the middle of high-stress, replace-sleep-with-coffee, bring-your-pillow-to-the-library finals season at Berkeley, I was in a rather biased state of mind. Focusing primarily on the title of the talk, I went on to write an admittedly partial rant, dictating my post-Ted-presentation thoughts. Here's an excerpt: 

The Industrial Revolution was a critical juncture in world history - an proponent of mass production, a determinant of rightward shifts in aggregate supply, and an instigator for expansions of our production possibility frontiers. Machinery manufactured machines for a change that lingers as profoundly today as it did in the days of its conception. Every modern device whose body can be broken into pieces evidences its connection to this era that all children are ostensibly educated about in the confined boundaries of their history classrooms.

However, what the eager young minds of tomorrow fail to realize is their History textbooks' failure to shed light on the truth. True, it does seem a bit oxymoronic to attend an educational institute to learn ignorance. Yet, this contradiction can only be broken when the child picks up his pen to extend the timeline of the Industrial Revolution to the bottom of the page, past the pile of pages beneath, onto the wooden desk up until it makes contact with his own skin. In such circumstances, it is incorrect to claim that history repeats itself, for Industrial Revolution never ended. It merely underwent a physical metamorphosis. Now, you are the machine and school is your factory.

 

Yes, quite melodramatic, I know. In retrospect, I'm not even sure where I was going with this. Anyhow, because I had to return to my studying, I ditched this little rant and forgot about it. During break though, I found it in my pool of documents and decided to watch the talk again in my fresh-adequate-amount-of-sleep-relaxed state of mind, to see if I could rationalize my histrionic logic. The second time around, I was gripped by a Picasso quotation that Robinson referenced in his speech: "All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up." 

Post Ted-Talk thoughts, round two: In a world in which much of what we do is reduced to simple numbers and letters, it is easy to lose sight of our talents and abilities. It is easy to get addicted to perfectionism and to allow oneself to believe that anything less than 100 percent is a sign of failure. This ever-increasing mentality exacerbates the "problem" that Picasso indicates in his words of wisdom. In our woes over so-called worthlessness, we disregard the boundless worthiness of our mistakes and their incredible capacity to foster creativity and innovation. And I am most definitely very guilty of allowing myself to consciously get caught up in this problematic chain reaction of self-deprecation. 

I have been wanting to join the world of bloggers for quite some time, and thanks to Picasso, I finally found that much-needed spark of inspiration to catalyze this action. People have been asking me, "Oh what's your blog about?" and I've been struggling to provide a definite answer, because I honestly think this blog is about exploring an abstract, or many abstract, ideas. Its about utilizing both hemispheres of the brain equally. I'm just trying to remember to remain an artist as I grow up.