Yes, exactly. We're very curious creatures and learn lots of stuff naturally.

There's also the possible element of what is learned in government school, that wouldn't otherwise be learned, is not valuable. That would still be compatible with time in school having no impact on later life outcomes.

It’s like giving the government credit for natural human behavior of learning.  

Hmm

BlokchainB

The best comparison point I've heard, and you're right that it's hard to find a great one, is industrial era England.

They were post-agrarian but pre-government schooling and had very high literacy rates, plus it's the most similar culture to ours.

The evidence on what government schools accomplish is truly bleak. I meant it when I said there's no evidence of meaningful learning, in aggregate. All of the gains to education appear to occur at graduation, which means either all learning occurs in that final day of class or government school purely functions as a filtering device.

Education

I’ve Been a Public School Teacher for 20 Years. Trust Me: Homeschool Your Kids

Bell_curve

The best comparison point I've heard, and you're right that it's hard to find a great one, is industrial era England. 

They were post-agrarian but pre-government schooling and had very high literacy rates, plus it's the most similar culture to ours.

The evidence on what government schools accomplish is truly bleak. I meant it when I said there's no evidence of meaningful learning, in aggregate. All of the gains to education appear to occur at graduation, which means either all learning occurs in that final day of class or government school purely functions as a filtering device.