Originally published here.
In(ter)dependance is something that I never really heard of until now; which is probably due to the fact that it’s unique and rare these days. In my opinion, schooling these days is almost like a choke-chain for dogs in terms of freedom and creativity. By this I mean that you can only go so far before the collar becomes too tight and you retreat back into the instructions and guildlines. This is why In(ter)dependance is so valuble to me, not only as a skill, but as a statement to others who depend on spoon fed information.
The base of In(ter)dependance? I believe thats it’s curiousity, as you need a drive to explore. People say that curiousity killed the cat, but really curiousity cures the cranium. As Sugata Mitra demonstraighted, curiousity can lead to knowledge, real knowledge, not just textbook facts. He also showed that learning doesn’t need a teacher or other, more intelligent body present, but merely the presence of unanswered questions to spark that human desire to learn and discover.
Another component of In(ter)dependance would be, in my opinion, bravery, as you need some form of courage in order to venture into the unknown and explore it all by yourself. Even if this means opening a book or searching something up via google. Some people would say that my idea of ‘bravery’ means just being bothered to search for anwsers, however, take the moon mission for example; we wanted to know more about the moon so we sent people to the moon. If that doesn’t need bravery, what does?
In(ter)dependance would definately help me organise my work more, and understand my work more too. I’m one of those people who say “Well… it’s not in for tomorrow… I’ll do it later!" and I really want to change that. I have large and complex aspirations in life that I’m desperate to accomplish, and I need curiousity, bravery and willpower to do them.
Unfortunately, Carol Dweck’s theory of having fixed and growth mindsets worries me, as I believe that I have a fixed mindset. But I also believe that the majority of people do. Almost everyone these days has a fixed mindset because of how society functions and how education systems work these days. What I mean is that everyone is judged and grouped, therefore become aware of things that are good or bad for them as a ‘labelled’ person. Plus education is very limited and you must make tighter and tighter choices, which makes us personally single out and catagorise subjects in which they excel and fail at. So I think that In(ter)dependance is, and always will be quite rare amoung a community/society where education is tight and people give others either the cold shoulder or warm embrace depending on their ‘label’.