I recently read American Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite, and it caused me to take a step back and reflect. While I believe it was a classic example of a 200+ page non-fiction book that could have probably fit into a 10-page essay, the author’s primary argument still resonated with me.
I will highlight a few points about the book and then continue with my thoughts.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Quick Summary
The book is primarily an attack on the education of the American elite, as you can see from the title. Deresiewicz’s main argument is that the whole elite education system is a complete mess and is not working.
Many parents only care about their children attending the best schools. Many professors care much more about their research and achieving tenure than being a great teacher and mentor to their students. Many universities care much more about maximizing their donations and “brand name” rather than whether they are teaching students how to live a meaningful life.
In turn, many high-performing students often only optimize for grades. They only care about getting an A and not so much about whether they are even learning something valuable.
Now that they have the grades, these students seek to obtain the most prestigious or highest paying job. It does not seem to matter whether that job is something they personally care about or whether they may or may not like that job.
And those who dare to think differently and pursue a different path often feel pressure from friends, family, and society to “get moving” and “stop wasting time.”
My Experience
I attended the University of Chicago, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. I’m not saying this to pat myself on the back. I’m saying this so you understand my perspective and where I am coming from.
While there were many incredibly smart, talented, and hard-working young adults in the student body at the University of Chicago, it often seemed to me that too many of my peers were becoming these exact students I describe above.
It was always about networking with the next person and getting an A to maintain that perfect GPA. It was never about what you learned, why you learned it, or what you even like to learn. There was never a thought about whether the direction you were headed in was the right direction for you.
It’s not necessarily my place to speak, and I don’t mean to make generalizations.
But, for example, there were many incredibly intelligent individuals who would pursue consulting or finance simply because “everyone else is doing it” or “there is a lot of money in it”. I do not necessarily think those are absolutely wrong answers.
One must come find answers for oneself. I just believe that embarking on a journey in which you do not have at least one internal reason for why you are pursuing that path will make it that much more difficult to endure, which it at least was for me.
In the short-term, you may not feel or realize any consequences from ignoring to think about the deeper questions. But eventually, I believe these questions tend to catch up, and you may find yourself in the office at 2AM one day desperate for a reset.
There is not necessarily an advantage to pursuing a well-paved path either. As history has shown us, there are many remarkable people who obtained incredible amounts of success by pursuing an unconventional path.
A Few Examples of Unconventional Paths
Albert Einstein, largely considered one of the most accomplished scientists, completed his PHD at Zürich Polytechnic. After graduation, it was incredibly difficult for Einstein to obtain a teaching position, which was uncommon for someone with his background. Instead, he decided to take a job at the Swiss Patent Office, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
At the Swiss Patent Office, Einstein was exposed to cutting-edge science and evaluated electromagnet inventions. During his time at the Swiss Patent Office, Einstein would produce much of his most influential work.
Jeff Bezos, after pursuing degrees in both electrical engineering and computer science at Princeton, went to New York to work at a few different financial technology companies. He eventually joined D.E. Shaw and went on to become the youngest senior vice president in the company’s history.
While working on the internet at D.E. Shaw, Bezos came across a statistic that the internet was growing at 2,300% a month, and that was a major turning point. He decided to leave D.E. Shaw and try to start an internet company despite being so successful there. That internet company became Amazon.
Charles Darwin, who we know most famously for the theory of natural selection, also followed a rather unconventional path. He came from a long line of doctors, and his father had pushed him to study medicine from a young age. Darwin did not take well to this and was not a great student of medicine. After realizing this, his father insisted on him pursuing a career in the church.
As Darwin was pursuing a career in the church, a former professor offered Darwin the opportunity to sail around the world for 5 years on the HMS Beagle and collect specimens for the ship’s biologist. Against his father’s wishes, Darwin jumped at the opportunity. He defied the odds much like Bezos and Einstein and decided to pursue an unconventional path.
This trip would ultimately lay the foundations for Darwin’s discovery of the theory of natural selection.
The Unconventional Path
So what exactly is the “unconventional path”? To me, it can be summarized in one sentence: Making a bet on yourself.
While there may be family, friends, professors, and advisors all telling you that you should go one way, you still decide to go the way that YOU want to. You shut out all the noise and show up every day. Despite all odds against you, you have the guts to look stupid and foolish.
My generic point is that I believe attending an Ivy League or top school to some extent nurtures a fragile mindset. You are always a top-performing student. You always achieve the best grades. It is only logical now that you should pursue the best job. But what if the best job is not where answers lie?
What if the best job is working for the peace corps and traveling the world? What if the best way for you to find answers is to completely reset and begin studying a new field? These are questions that are a lot easier said than done, but I believe strongly that they must be pondered with a fairly regular frequency.
The truth is I’m still trying to figure myself out but that’s where the beauty in life belongs. Kevin Kelly on The Tim Ferriss Show spoke about how many successful people he knew who were 70+ still ask themselves important life questions like “Who am I?” and “What am I here for?” He argued that life in and of itself is a journey to find and discover oneself.
Conclusion
Thank you for reaching the end. If you take anything from this, never stop reflecting. Do not be afraid of self-reflection. For me, self-discovery and self-learning is the most exciting journey. And do not be afraid to defy conventional wisdom and take the path less traveled or even never traveled. If you find yourself there, you just might be on the cusp of doing something groundbreaking.
Finally, I will finish with the following quote from Steve Jobs that I hold close:
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
Thanks to Justin Lee for reading drafts of this.
Sign up for Self-Improvement Saturday
Each week, I write a popular email. Self-Review Saturday is a reflection on something new I learned that week and how it might apply to you. Here’s an example. Like it? Sign up below.
Abhin Sharma 