There are many reason to like John Green. Here’s one. In this Ted Talk he introduces the idea of the internet being the new frontier for learning. I couldn’t agree more. As I wrote before, there is more information on the internet than I can ever hope to read about in my life. As I type, millions are hitting publish on their posts and releasing it into the world. I liked his criticism of the traditional educational system of his youth, which is largely unchanged today. As a youth, education seemed like a series of arbitrary hurdles to him. Seeing the end goal of the hurdles – “a good job”, was enough to turn him off from learning(and school in general).

As someone who graduated from school, this really resonated with me. I often wonder what I would’ve been able to do different, had I not spent 16 years in my life in school. I feel the need to qualify this so I will. I’m not against education, for I cannot even fathom who I’d be without it but I just wonder how different things would be if I didn’t. There are some obvious and covert benefits, but to what extent? I feel like I was part of a system. Like I was an assembly line piece moved from one conveyor belt to the other. I come off the assembly line wondering if it was the right path. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.

As an adult I can make my own path. John Green compares it to cartography. Seeing enough land to get started, and then venturing the land if interested. He credits his re-ignition of interest to online communities that provide an environment with like minded individuals engaged in intriguing conversations. Communities like Reddit and YouTube allow for the perfect place to truly engage an interest. These site don’t usually get this praise because the overwhelming majority isn’t like this. Learning channels are niche enough to ward off trolls and attract people who are genuinely interested in learning. A stark contrast from the university classroom of a core curriculum class. You would think that some people are in that class at gunpoint. Any who, just thought I would share this video. As I try to teach myself regarding several interests, it’s refreshing to see that there are other people on the same path willing to help each other. I look forward to joining these communities and making the most of them.