5.02.2013

On Potential; or Let's Rehab The World

We are all born artists. Entrepreneurs. Geniuses. 

Every single great work of culture began as a blank piece of paper or canvas; just a thought that blew up like the Big Bang (whoa, creationists!), inside the Galaxy of Neurons that occupies your brain. It's fascinating, really: The staggering, overwhelming amount of potential that each and every child is born with. It's damn near unlimited. We have to revise our go-to descriptions when it comes to newborns and babies:

"Adorable!"

"Beautiful!"

"So hairy, already!!" 

"A fucking genius."

We have to. Allowing a child creative and intellectual freedom can no longer be a luxury; an eccentric parenting choice. It has to be downright -illegal- to not allow a child to dream, and fully support and feed that dream. We are all born no less bright than Da Vinci, Henry Ford or Steve Jobs were when they were born. The go-to move is criticizing the deeply broken education system. And, while I agree completely, I believe we have to take a look at ourselves. Education begins at home. Education, I believe, is a two-part program: the school, and our homes. We -have- to do our part. We can point at the school system all we want, but if you refuse to be a part of your child's dream and block their infinite imagination, you're setting him/her up for a drive-less life, forever doomed to be judged and manipulated by a number, a grade. A frustratingly incorrect measure of a child's potential or true intellect..

The 'he/she's too young to know what he/she wants" response is bullshit. 
You know exactly what you want the moment it first comes to you, as a child. It's not a phase, or an accident. It is meant to be. Don't be an asshole and mess with future greatness.