Free-Man's Perspective

This is a set of passages from my files: The thoughts of notable geniuses on the subject of education. I hope that parents, especially, will find them informative. Continue reading “Geniuses on Education”

People very often expect authorities to possess superior information. After all, the assumptions of the 20^th century were that those at the top of large systems have information the rest of us don’t, and that they make better decisions because of it. This was the lesson of the factory, the military and government. In all cases, those at the top were believed to have the best information. Continue reading “The Quality of Information Within A Hierarchy”

If you could go back in time a thousand years, you’d find people who were eerily similar to your present companions. The same is true for people who will live a thousand years from now. Some of them will be nearly identical to the people you now love, and you would care deeply about those people, the same as you do their present-day counterparts. Continue reading “The Immortal Hymn of Mankind”

The thought that something like “the right to a secure retirement” could destroy us seems a little crazy at first. Who, after all, opposes old people living comfortably? Nonetheless, many rights do destroy, and it recently struck me that I had never seen a clear and dispassionate explanation of why. And so I’ll rectify that. Continue reading “How Rights Destroy”

Rules and obedience have never elevated anyone to heroism and greatness, but I know what does, and I discovered it in the rubble of 9/11.

I was scheduled to be in New York for a convention in early 2002, and sent an email to my old friend Jack, along the lines of “Hey, I’m coming to NYC. Wanna get lunch?” His reply was simple: “Sure, but first I’d like you to see my new project.” Continue reading “A Recipe For Heroes And Saints”

Imagine a pretty spring day. You’re standing on your front porch or some other pleasant vantage point and looking out at a sunlit landscape: trees, grass, and singing birds. Then your five-year-old child or grandchild walks up to you and tugs on your hand to get your attention. You turn and the child asks, “What kind of world is this?”

What do you reply? Continue reading “14 Words”

Lord Acton wrote that power tends to corrupt, but I’m going to say flat out that it does corrupt. I’ll go further and say that it’s an addiction (probably every bit as bad as cocaine), and that the lust for control is one of its primary drivers. Continue reading “Control Is An Addiction”

Humans are not naturally stupid. Fear, however, distorts them, weakens them, and makes them far less effective than they’d naturally be. Fear, in its many guises, is the great enemy of mankind, and it’s time that we addressed it head on. Continue reading “Fear Is A Mind Hack”

The good news about ignorance? Yes, and emphatically yes.

The good news about ignorance is that it sets us free from mental chains. Now, to be clear, what I’m talking about here is accepting and admitting our ignorance. This is essential if we want to actually know things, as opposed to making a show of knowing things. And I can tell you from personal experience that it really works. I gained the habit of admitting my ignorance (almost advertising it) back in the early 1980s, and that habit has helped me toward more understanding and discovery than I’d be able to itemize. Continue reading “The Gospel of Ignorance”