Paranoia and cynicism stem from an insecurity about ability, which deceptive truths exacerbate by demeaning achievement. If society is meritocratic, then we have to accept other people’s assessment of us, admit our weaknesses, and improve.
Society is Zero-Sum
Students should not hold contempt for successful people because successful people help society. The top 20 percent of any system does 80 percent of the work. The public sector helps society with collective decisions like laws and infrastructure, and the private sector helps society work within that framework. We want capable people to be in charge of decisions because they have proven that they are better at it than we are. Students are cynical about corporations and government because it’s removed from them, and they don’t understand how institutions work. We should explain how everyone benefits when society is meritocratic.
People are Corrupt
It’s convenient to assume the worst about people in order to dismiss what they’re saying. It’s easy to accuse them of being “evil” or “dumb”. If a legislature votes down an infrastructure bill, they must hate infrastructure! They must be evil! Why else would they vote against it? We default to a simple analysis because we aren’t interested in learning about the subject. In reality, everyone wants the same thing. Disagreements are due to a lack of understanding. Schools should encourage students to dig a little deeper, so they don’t write off whole professions. If students are confused about something, they should study it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s situationally true or false because concepts are abstract, which is how we define learning. The fact that 2+2=4 doesn’t depend on whether there are actually four objects in front of us. It doesn’t depend on whether the teacher who taught the lesson is “bought off”.
Everything is Luck
Modest people say that it’s better to be lucky than good. We are surprised when our efforts work out in ways that we didn’t expect, and we credit it to good luck or fate. The karmic principle says that if we do good, it will find its way back to us. People will be more willing to do favors for us, and we will be more confident to put ourselves in good situations. If we rely on imaginary luck, then we don’t make adequate preparations for the future. Students will procrastinate until the last second, so they can tell themselves they “ran out of time”, like it was “bad luck”. But, if it’s our own fault, then it bothers us, because we know we could have prepared better. Things that are out of our control don’t affect us, like how winning the lottery doesn’t increase our happiness. Lasting satisfaction comes from meaning, which comes from doing the right thing no matter the situation.
Everyone is Equal
Success is primarily determined by ability, and not hard work, because hard work is a function of ability, and without ability, hard work doesn’t produce anything. We like to think that everyone has the same ability because we are all equal as human beings. There is a tendency to think that if a person is good in one area, they must be bad in another area. We pretend scientists are nerds, and athletes are airheads. We dismiss Newton because he wrote about astrology, and we dismiss Jefferson because he inherited a plantation with slaves. We did not discover the laws of motion, or found a country, but we pretend that it all averages out. Students conclude, therefore, that they don’t have to study physics or history. They don’t have to be better, because their betters weren’t better (once we factor in revisionism).
All Groups are Equal
Students shouldn’t be told that we’re all equal in our interests because it will add to their paranoia about institutions. If women and men are equally interested in bricklaying, then when 95% of the profession is men, students will think that it must be unjust. There are impediments, biological and otherwise, that affect men, women, and other groups, and we should make special rules to help those groups. Teenagers need a lower minimum wage, for example, to help them get jobs. We should remove impediments that have a net cost on society, but we do not want to force people into careers that they don’t want. Diversity is a good way to get people from different perspectives to work on a problem, but their experiences should be relevant to solving the problem.
People are Hypocrites
Knowing something is wrong is different from being able to solve it. People with drug problems are not hypocrites for telling children not to use drugs. They have direct experience with the problem, so they can talk about their mistakes. They say “do as I say, not as I do”. They know in their head what to change, but they don’t have the actual desire to change it. When we know in our hearts that something is wrong, it doesn’t confuse us. The leniency we give to students is because we don’t really think what they do is wrong in our hearts. Parents will hide snacks instead of telling children not to eat them. It’s easier for parents because they don’t trust their authority. The child would detect insincerity from the parents if they had to confront the issue. The parents either eat snacks themselves, or believe it’s okay for children. Their words do not affect their actions. It’s important for teachers to embody virtue as an example to students.
We Can Dominate Others By Apologizing To Them
If I apologize to you for being better than you, I get the rush of feeling superior, without the downside of being rude. I can say “I’m not better than you” as if it’s assumed that I am. Students turn the cliché of “my dad can beat up your dad” into “I’m sorry that my ancestors dominated your ancestors”, as well as other vanity statements.
Rules For Schools 