Winning wisdom through iteration

When I was in high school, the proprietor created a subject he called ‘Winning Wisdom.’ It covered a host of things, like simple decision-making skills, mental models for life (of course, he didn’t use the term ‘mental models’), rethinking values, and practical ways of being a better person, including finding ways to make anything better.

It was one of my favourite subjects that year. I don’t know if Big Uncle¹ had taught this subject again in the last twenty years, but it left an imprint in my heart.

As I read this piece by Jason, I thought: “What if that subject is taught in all schools, this time with a laser focus on the concept of iteration?”

Making things better comes from iteration. Let kids take a piece of art (and in this context, art can encompass anything, from software to hardware and everything in between), and make it better every two weeks.

Let them return to something done by someone else, look at it with fresh eyes, and make it better.

Punditry is good for debates, but young people need to build muscles to actively make things better, not just critique. This muscle is built by learning to work on things and producing better versions.

Don’t tell us what a better version can be. Show us.

This practice instills the ability to reinvent oneself later in life when the situation calls for it.

1. That was what we called him. I still do.