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This will be a long ride, but it will be worth it.
Yesterday I had one of my most wonderful ethics classes with my favorite 10th graders.
The topic is happiness. So we talked about what happiness is in previous classes and delved deeper into the meaning of life.
The whole class has been about the modern view of happiness, which is basically a rift from the ancient view of happiness. Which I think has been lost for most of society.
Cheap shots like alcohol, sex, drugs, parties, luxuries can't make you happy. But what can?
Last week's class was about serotonin, what it does in our bodies, how to get it, and why it is important to us. So I preached the whole philosophy to them, which already took the bitcoin crowd as well. Go outside, touch some grass, get some sun, have meaningful relationships, eat good healthy food, and eat more meat!
So this week was the banger: The whole class was about not trying to be happy. Chasing happiness is meaningless and a lost battle right from the start.
Finding meaning and working hard for it brings happiness. Achieving your own goal and taking responsibility for your freedom will set you free and reward you with happiness.
This is all very well, but it will never convince children of 16. They want sex and beer. But two fortunate things were different in this generation. First, I have a good connection with the kids, they enjoy having our classes at 2:30 p.m. or later, they do not complain, they love those classes. And second, we had a guest.
The guest was an alumnus, he graduated last year.
He was a nice guy, always smoked during the breaks, came to class drunk, got all the girls. He pissed off all the teachers and was basically the perfect rebel. I cannot tell if he was more sober or more stoned at school. But I liked his way of thinking, so we got along pretty well.
This guy asked if he could join the class. I was honored.
In the middle of the class, the attention was dropping. The children chatted and paid less attention. But he could not take it anymore. He yelled at the class: "I was you last year! I did not care what Mr. Schütt told us! But he was right! He was right about everything!"
He told the class his experiences from his personal life. To every point I made in class, to every example I gave, he gave one from his own life. He told them how he thought he would easily defeat life. How everything is about cheap, fast dopamine. Taking no responsibility. And how it all came back to him.
The class was dead silent, they were excited, there was such an atmosphere in the class that can hardly be described!
The bell rang, the kids could leave for their long weekend (we have a holiday in Germany today), but no one left the class. They wanted to learn more, from the guest and from me. We added 30 minutes of class that day! Kids wanted to get education instead of weekend.
One of the greatest moments of my life!
Nothing is lost, we can easily win. The children are hungry for the truth! It's all just prrof of work. How ready am I to change the world? And how much effort do I want to put into it?