# 10.为什么学校会失败 [TOC=3,5] ## 10 Why schools fail? ## 为什么学校会失败？ ### 10.1 Summary of failure ### 失败摘要 > Schools fail because they disrespect and suppress basic learning, creativity, and problem solving mechanisms. For institutions responsible for fostering science, schools are egregiously ignorant of essential principles of how the brain works > > 学校之所以失败，是因为它们不尊重并抑制了关于学习、创造力和解决问题的基本机制。作为负责培养科学的机构来说，学校对大脑如何运作的基本原理一无所知，这是令人毛骨悚然的。 The degree of disrespect for child's health and well-being qualifies most schools as institutions of [legal child abuse](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Education_as_a_human_right) \(as long as they remain mandatory\). 对儿童健康和福祉的不尊重程度使大多数学校都有资格成为[合法虐待儿童](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Education_as_a_human_right)的机构（只要它们仍然是强制性的）。 ### 10.2 Path from knowledge to discovery ### 从知识到发现的路径 To understand the failure of schooling in a nutshell, it is helpful to track a golden nugget of knowledge from its source to its impact on a big discovery. This is the ABC of science that few seem to understand: not teachers, not principals, not education departments. There is an army of people who help pushing the grinding machine of youth. Those few voices who understand the process remain silenced or even [ridiculed](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Abandon_early_math_instruction!). 要简单地理解学校教育的失败，追踪高价值知识的来源到其对一项重大发现的影响，是很有帮助的。似乎很少人理解的科学基础：不是教师，不是校长，不是教育部门。有一大群人在帮助推动年轻人的磨床。那些了解这一进程的少数人仍然保持沉默，甚至受到[嘲笑](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Abandon_early_math_instruction!)。 Here is a short path of a great nugget of knowledge that can change the world: 以下是一条通往可以改变世界的高价值知识的捷径： * **healthy brain**: the nugget must meet a healthy brain equipped with sufficient prior knowledge. The current design of the education systems damages both health of the brains and the [quality of knowledge](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Crystallization_of_knowledge). Even basic health rules are not obeyed. Kids can be trained to respect authority to the exclusion of their physiological needs. Insufficient attention is paid to their thirst, hunger, toilet needs, overheating, fatigue, [sleepiness](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Science_of_sleep), etc. * **健康的大脑**：有价值的知识必须与一个健康的、有充分预备知识的大脑相遇。目前教育系统的设计损害了大脑的健康和[知识的质量](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Crystallization_of_knowledge)。即使是基本的卫生规则也没有得到遵守。可以训练孩子尊重权威，而不是排斥他们的生理需求。对他们的口渴、饥饿、想上厕所、过热、疲劳、[缺少睡眠](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Science_of_sleep)等关注不足。 * **learn drive**: natural curiosity is a guidance system that optimizes the efficient acquisition of knowledge. Schools enforce a [curriculum](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Curriculum), while only the guidance of [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive) makes it possible to effectively match knowledge on input with prior knowledge stored in the brain \(see: [Mountain climb metaphor of schooling](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Mountain_climb_metaphor_of_schooling)\) * **学习内驱力**：天生的好奇心是一种引导系统，它优化了知识的有效获取。学校强制执行一套[课程](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Curriculum)，然而只有[学习内驱力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive)的指导，才有可能有效地将输入的知识与储存在大脑中的预备知识相匹配（见：学校教育的爬山隐喻）。 * **pleasure of learning**: once a great brain with great knowledge guided by the [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive) meets the nugget of knowledge, a reward signal is registered. The education system suppresses the quest to seek nuggets by [coercing](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coercion) [unmatching](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coherence) knowledge into the learning process. The education system is an unhappy system. The meeting with the nugget is a romance at first sight. Schooling often becomes a path through [mental torture](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Why_kids_hate_school%3F), while [free learning](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Free_learning) is one of the most rewarding human activities. Kids are conditioned to lose their love of learning and lose their [creative powers](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Creativity). This is explained in [Pleasure of learning](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Pleasure_of_learning) * **学习的乐趣**：在[学习内驱力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive)的引导下，知识渊博的大脑一旦遇到了高价值知识，奖励信号就会被记录下来。教育系统通过在学习过程中[强迫输入](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coercion)[不匹配的](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coherence)知识来抑制对高价值知识的追求。教育制度是一个令人不愉快的制度。与高价值知识的会面令人一见钟情。上学往往成为一种[精神折磨](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Why_kids_hate_school%3F)，而[自由学习](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Free_learning)是人类最有益的活动之一。孩子们习惯于失去他们对学习的热爱，失去他们的[创造力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Creativity)。这在[学习的乐趣](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Pleasure_of_learning)一章解释过了。 * **spaced review**: for the nugget to survive in the brain, it needs to be reactivated in specific patterns in time. It must be [reviewed](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Review) before it is forgotten. Those patterns resemble statistical interactions with the natural environment \(see: [On the superiority of a rat over a schooled human](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/On_the_superiority_of_a_rat_over_a_schooled_human)\). The design of memory implies that the lack of reactivation in a certain time will result in [forgetting](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Forgetting). Excess reactivation, e.g. in [cramming](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Cramming), will weaken memories through [spacing effect](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Spacing_effect). The education system pushes [too much and too fast](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Futility_of_schooling) to give reactivation a chance. [Spaced repetition](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Spaced_repetition) is a domain of self-directed student, very often only after they have left school or in a narrow area of interest. It is very rare to see students employ spaced repetition concurrently to their program of study with success. It is still relatively rare to see spaced repetition employed universally for all areas of general knowledge. This comes from the insufficient appreciation of knowledge, which is conditioned via years of schooling * **间隔复习**：为了让高价值知识在大脑中留存，需要及时以特定的模式重新激活它。必须在它被遗忘之前对其进行[复习](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Review)。这些模式类似于与自然环境的统计交互作用（参见：[老鼠对受过学校教育的人类的优越性](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/On_the_superiority_of_a_rat_over_a_schooled_human)）。记忆的设计意味着在一定时间内缺乏再激活会导致[遗忘](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Forgetting)。过度的重新激活，例如在[填鸭式学习](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Cramming)中，会通过[间隔效应](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Spacing_effect)削弱记忆。教育系统推动得[太多、太快](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Futility_of_schooling)，以至于不能给予重新激活的机会。[间隔重复](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Spaced_repetition)是一个自我指导的学生的领域，往往只有存在与他们离开学校或一个狭窄的兴趣领域。很少能看到学生成功地在学习计划中同时使用间隔重复。在一般知识的所有领域普遍使用间隔重复仍然是比较少见的。这是由于对知识的认识不足，而这种认识源于多年的学校教育。 * **incremental learning**: the nugget gains in associative power if it is set in the right context for rich [coherent](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coherence) knowledge built using a targetting system that requires [self-directed approach](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Self-directed_learning). The brain has a natural targetting system, the [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive), that is constantly being overridden at school. The targetting system is driven by passions and suppressed by [coercion](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coercion). See: [Schools suppress the learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Schools_suppress_the_learn_drive). High-quality knowledge is built via [emergence](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Emergence). See: [Crystallization of knowledge](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Crystallization_of_knowledge) * **渐进学习**：如果将其设置在正确的上下文中，使用需要[自我指导](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Self-directed_learning)的目标系统构建的丰富、[连贯的](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coherence)知识，那么高价值知识会获得联想的能量。大脑有一个天生的目标系统，即[学习内驱力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive)，在学校里经常被忽视。目标系统是由激情驱动而被[强迫](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coercion)抑制的。参见：[学校抑制学习内驱力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Schools_suppress_the_learn_drive)。高质量的知识是通过[涌现](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Emergence)而建立起来的。参见：[知识的结晶](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Crystallization_of_knowledge) * **creativity cycle**: the nugget gains in power if it increases in [coherence](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coherence) by [generalization](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Generalization), selective [forgetting](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Forgetting), creative association, etc. Those processes require peace, creative wandering, thinking, [sleep](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Sleep), and plenty of time. [All those components of mind growth](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Natural_creativity_cycle) are suppressed in the chaos of the education system. Even [sleep](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Science_of_sleep), the most essential component in question, is held in disrespect. In addition to those inherent design problems of the [Prussian system](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Prussian_system), there are dozens of other factors that interfere with learning, e.g. [bullying](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Bullying), drugs, authoritarian teachers, etc. For a richer list see: [Problem of schooling](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Problem_of_schooling) * **创造力周期**：如果高价值知识通过[泛化](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Generalization)、选择性[遗忘](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Forgetting)、创造性联想等方式增加[连贯性](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coherence)，那么它就会获得能量。这些过程需要和平、创造性的漫游、思考、[睡眠](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Sleep)和充足的时间。在混乱的教育系统中，[所有这些心智成长的组成部分](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Natural_creativity_cycle)都被抑制了。甚至对睡眠这一最基本的因素也是不尊重的。除了[普鲁士制度](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Prussian_system)固有的设计问题之外，还有许多其他因素干扰学习，如[欺凌](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Bullying)、毒品、威权教师等等。要获得更丰富的列表，参见：[学校教育问题](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Problem_of_schooling) * **problem solving**: finally, the nugget of knowledge can be employed in the process of problem solving. The education system focuses on consumption, provides little room for [creativity](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Creativity), and little room for [genuine problem solving](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/How_to_solve_any_problem%3F) where novel problems are tackled with little external guidance, and without robotic regurgitation of well-known algorithms. **Finding dichotomies and making serial micro-decisions are part of a brain's repertoire of habits that underlie efficient problem solving. The education system suppresses the natural quest for autonomous decision making** * **问题解决**：最后，高价值知识会被投入到解决问题的过程中。教育系统注重消费，几乎没有给[创造力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Creativity)提供空间，也没有什么空间来[解决真正的问题](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/How_to_solve_any_problem%3F)。真实情况下，新的问题的解决，既不依靠外部的指导，又不诉诸于机械地回顾已知的算法。**发现二分法和做出一系列小决策是大脑习惯的一部分，这些习惯是有效解决问题的基础。教育系统抑制了对自主决策的本能追求。** ### 10.3 Schools abandon exploration ### 学校放弃探索 Efficient adaptation to the environment relies on an **exploration algorithm** developed in the course of evolution. The algorithm reached its acme in the human brain. It took half a billion years to develop. Modern education systems ignore that capital. [Education systems stand in the opposition to the marvelous gains of evolution](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Education_counteracts_evolution). 对环境的有效适应依赖于在进化过程中发展出的一种**探索算法**。这个算法在人脑中达到了极致。它花了 5 亿年才发展起来。现代教育系统忽视了这一资本。[教育制度与进化论的惊人成果背道而驰](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Education_counteracts_evolution)。 Efficient learning is based on the same exploration algorithm. To trace the golden nugget of knowledge, we started from the point of the encounter. However, the encounter itself is largely hindered by schooling. Efficient exploration occurs in natural environment, in [simulations](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/PhET_simulations), in [incremental reading](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Incremental_reading), or in other forms of [free learning](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Free_learning). Modern schools provide limited freedom and this undermines the exploration algorithm. 有效的学习基于同样的探索算法。为了追踪高价值知识，我们从偶遇开始。然而，这种偶遇本身在很大程度上受到学校教育的阻碍。有效的探索发生在自然环境，在[模拟](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/PhET_simulations)，在[渐进阅读](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Incremental_reading)，或在其他形式的[自由学习](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Incremental_reading)。现代学校提供了有限的自由，这逐渐破坏了探索算法。 ### 10.4 Schools hinder discovery ### 学校阻碍发现 Most of mankind's problems are solved only after leaving the confines of schooling. Sometimes, when a great idea hits, a genius mind will drop out from school, and accomplish great things. I wish [Bill Gates never forgot what made him great](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Bill_Gates_is_wrong_about_education). 人类的大多数问题只有在离开学校教育的限制之后才能得到解决。有时，当一个伟大的想法出现时，一个天才的头脑会从学校辍学，并完成伟大的事业。我希望[比尔·盖茨永远不会忘记是什么让他变得伟大](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Bill_Gates_is_wrong_about_education)。 Instead of following the above path to a breakthrough, we torture kids with early alarms, [relentless drilling](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Cramming), [coercive learning](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coercive_learning), [homework](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Homework), limits on freedom, and a never-ending nagging of great expectations. 我们不是沿着上述道路取得突破，而是用早起闹钟、[无情操练](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Cramming)、[强制学习](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Coercive_learning)、[家庭作业](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Homework)、限制自由以及无休止的巨大期望折磨孩子们。 See also: 另见： * [Mountain climb metaphor of schooling](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Mountain_climb_metaphor_of_schooling) * [学校教育的登山类比](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Mountain_climb_metaphor_of_schooling) * [Soviet economy metaphor of schooling](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Modern_schooling_is_like_Soviet_economy) * [学校教育的苏联经济类比](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Modern_schooling_is_like_Soviet_economy)