Elon nails exactly what's wrong with education here and what needs to change. You may not know he actually started a remarkable school at SpaceX for his kids based on his principles... The school was called Ad Astra, Latin for “to the stars”. Elon hired Josh Dahn to build... and run the school. When Elon’s kids graduated, Josh and I cofounded Synthesis together. Our goal is to take the best parts of the SpaceX school and make them accessible to everyone. Elon famously follows a “first principles” approach. The primary principle of the school: A good education should produce people who can SOLVE PROBLEMS — real, complex problems with a team. Like how to colonize Mars. Not fake school worksheet problems. This principle was embodied in a class at the school called “Synthesis”. In the class, kids worked in teams to solve problems via complex games and simulations. The skills they build in Synthesis — working with a team, making tradeoffs, risk assessment and critical thinking — are the foundational skills they’ll need to solve problems in any domain. 1/2show more

This summer, your kids can get a taste of this remarkable learning experience with Synthesis summer camp. It's all online. Your kids will meet and work with smart peers from all over the world. They will solve problems through fun but complex video games and simulations. It runs June 24 to July 21. Registration is here — We expect available spots will fill up soon. Synthesis may help your kids succeed in the traditional education system. But that is not our goal. Our goal is to directly help your kids become capable problem solvers who leave their mark on the world. Show this video to your kids to get them excited about Synthesis. Let them know this will be NOTHING like school.

@josh_dahn Counterpoint: creativity can come from an awareness of tools with no specific problem defined. One of the most stimulating questions an instructor asked me was “how would you use a reverb with a 20s decay?” I developed techniques for years based on answering that one question.

@josh_dahn very true.

@josh_dahn this is so good. memory is expensive. you need to make learning relevant so it sticks. otherwise, you're just wasting time.

@josh_dahn My homeschool is not traditional. 5th grade science class is photography, and learning to start a photography business.

@josh_dahn If you know how to think critically and explore your own environment in depth, you can learn much of what you need for yourself. Then add your own selective reading and knowledge acquisition on top of that, and you barely need an education system at all.

@josh_dahn Nailed it. I got a D+ in Statistics in College because it was mind numbingly boring & I didn’t see the application. Fast forward a decade later I’d be studying Stats & Calculus in my free time (and loved it) because I was applying it to ML

@rebelEducator @josh_dahn I wonder if he read my Thesis…

@josh_dahn I mean most of the time we are just reaching useless stuff. Not even about screwdrivers or wrenches.

@josh_dahn This is fantastic! I homeschool my daughter and this is what I keep in mind