The Paradox of Education: Nurturing Rebellion and Curiosity in the Modern World

Have you ever felt like no one is thinking anymore? And you are the only one using your brain, and then you come across a myth that you are not even using your entire brain but just five to ten percent or whatever. And then you do something you shouldn’t have, and people say to you, what were you even thinking? Well, that’s because education is not education anymore. It has been corrupted. Corrupted in the sense that it is more of a business than a philosophy.

Selling yourself in the age of rejection

I have seen so many New Yorkers crying in subways. I used to wonder why in the world they can’t control their emotions. They must not be strong enough to handle their life. But you live long enough in New York, and one day you will see yourself crying in subway seats. And nobody will be there to wipe your tears. And nobody cares because you are not the first and the last one to drench the floor with your sorrows. And sometimes life is like an onion; you peel one layer, and you cry. I can see New Yorkers screaming silently. A single human touch would shatter these souls. As if they are waiting to be shattered. Everyone desperately seeks human connection. As if they will give up everything just to be seen.

Dostoevsky and the Woke Culture

The followers of woke culture have adopted the underground man’s principles, focusing on intense self-preservation, individuality, and egoism. The world is seeing a dramatic rise in loneliness epidemic and culture of narcissism, where almost everyone considers themselves famous, guru, and influential, and rates themselves ten out of ten in attractiveness. As if they are the paragon of civilization. And yet, like an underground man, they are secretly lonely, bitter, and despise themselves. They are in continuous conflict with the reality they see and the reality they perceive, and they are utterly disappointed when faced with the real world.

The Art of Depression

The high level of selective focus during the depression created a genius, and every genius is a rebel. A rebellion against the status quo. A threat against the old order. From Lincoln’s depression, which felt the pain of the people that freed the slaves, to Virginia Woolf’s depression, which created a revolution in the aesthetic and modernist world. They were both considered mad, yet genius and fearless enough to change the world.

The Death of Sincerity

Working near Columbus circle, mid-town, I always get to see parades, protests, and social movements. Whether it is a geopolitical protest that started at the end of East 57th, closer to the UN headquarters and cutting through West 57th the heart of billionaires’ row, or just a Macy’s parade. In between the Bipolar world of socialism and capitalism, I sense a feeling of emptiness overshadowing the deep horizon.