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An Open Letter to Students Returning to School

2012-08-07 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, self promotion, community lore

In an open letter to students returning to school, John argues that compulsory public education is historically recent and underlies modern achievements such as the Curiosity landing, answers students' complaints, and says school exists for everyone's benefit: public education is an investment in students, not a charity.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Pop quiz: when compulsory primary education began (US 1918, Germany, Japan, England); the ~250 years of compulsory education and humanity's achievements; Adam Steltzner of the Curiosity landing team as a product of public schooling

  • ★★ John says primary education became mandatory for all American children in 1918. — 00:00:08 · United States, education
  • ★★ John says Germany had compulsory primary education from the late 18th century, that thanks to the Meiji reforms 90% of Japanese kids were in school by 1900, and England followed around 1880. — 00:00:14 · England, education
  • ★★ John says that everywhere primary education became a requirement only after 1775, so compulsory education covers a short slice of history since the agricultural revolution: a roughly 250-year period. — 00:00:23 · education
  • ★★★ John says the era of compulsory education has been a good run for humans, from steam engines, the internet and antibiotics to longer lives and landing on Mars, and that this is not a coincidence. — 00:00:38 · progress, education
  • ★★ John says Adam Steltzner, lead engineer of the Curiosity rover's descent and landing team, went to a publicly funded high school and got his bachelor's and doctorate from publicly subsidized universities. — 00:00:55

00:01:05 — Students aren't psyched: social outcasts and mind-numbing studies; John answers each complaint (Curiosity, French, symbols, P.E.) and says everyone is stupid but learns to be less stupid together

  • ★★ John tells students that if they are like he was, they are not psyched about free learning: they may be social outcasts and find their studies mind-numbing. (playful) — 00:01:05
  • ★ John says he was a social outcast in school and never really learned how to shave. (playful) — 00:01:19
  • ★★★ John answers students' complaints: the Curiosity landing is more moving if you understand its physics, math and history; all communication and consciousness are symbolic; the body must learn movement. — 00:01:59

  • ★★★ John concedes teachers may be stupid, as are students and he himself, and says the pleasure of being human is being stupid but learning to be less stupid together. — 00:02:22

    “The whole pleasure of being a human is in being stupid, but learning to be less stupid together”

00:02:33 — School is not about you: John pays school taxes because a well-educated world benefits him; public education is an investment, not charity; you have been chosen for a special mission

  • ★★★ John says school is not about students or their parents but exists for his benefit: he pays school taxes without a child in school because he is better off in a well-educated world. — 00:02:33 · education
  • ★★★ John says public education is not a charity project: he pays for schools so students grow up to make his life better with books, cars, medicines and even crispier microwave pizza. — 00:02:48 · education
  • ★★ John says students' nation is making an investment in them because it believes they are worth it. — 00:03:09
  • ★★★ John tells students they are special, chosen for a mission (schooling) denied to 99.9% of all humans ever, and that we need, believe in and count on them. — 00:03:21

00:03:34 — Postscript: Crash Course and SciShow; the Evil Baby Orphanage card game Kickstarter; congratulations to Hank on Curiosity's landing; sign-off

  • ★★ In a postscript John asks viewers interested in education outside class to check out Crash Course and SciShow, the brothers' educational initiatives. — 00:03:34 · Crash Course, SciShow
  • ★★ John announces that a professional gaming company is Kickstarting an Evil Baby Orphanage card game and asks viewers to check it out. — 00:03:41 · Evil Baby Orphanage, Evil Baby Orphanage card game, Kickstarter, time nanny
  • ★ John congratulates Hank on Curiosity not crashing into Mars, which he calls the highlight of Hank's year. (playful) — 00:03:53

In the description and comments

Humor (significant)

  • John admits he was a social outcast who never learned how to shave — 00:01:21

    “when I had like the Sony My First Mustache, it was just a disaster.”

  • Who wants to read The Taming of the Shrew? You basically have to translate it from Shakespeare into English, which is ridiculous because there is already — 00:01:32

    “an excellent filmic translation available in the form of Ten Things I Hate About You.”

  • Answering the complaint that French is useless — 00:02:07

    “French is useful because the French do speak English, but they pretend not to.”

  • Among the selfish reasons John pays for schools: a crispy microwave pizza and spreading the internet — 00:03:00

    “So that I can get more YouTube views in Zambia.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: education

Also: People: Adam Steltzner · Neil deGrasse Tyson · William Shakespeare

Projects: Crash Course · SciShow

Works: 10 Things I Hate About You · Evil Baby Orphanage card game · The Taming of the Shrew

Organizations: Kickstarter · YouTube

Terms: doobly-doo · Evil Baby Orphanage · time nanny

Concepts: progress

Places: England · Germany · Japan · United States · Zambia

Events: Mars Science Laboratory · Meiji Restoration · Neolithic Revolution

Only in the description or credits: jokes

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