Maybe a big part of the education problem is there's too much to learn in too short a time?

While browsing Reddit this AM I came across this post with the headline claim that "college students are testing at the level of 10-year-olds", and it perked my interest. I read the article and it seemed to be more of the generic complaints about young people not being up to snuff academically.

As it turns out people test out at different levels under different circumstances- whether that's meaningful or not isn't my point here.

I flashed back to a discussion I had some years ago with an older brother. It was this very same lack-of-academic-proficiency topic, and I brought up what was to me a fairly new thought - around 1900 one could learn all the known physics math within months or maybe a year. Nowadays it takes multiple years just to be up to date with very narrow areas such as particle point vs quantum gravity.

The amount of gained and retained knowledge has expanded exponentially as the means to collect, collate, and disperse information have grown in size and use from the Guttenberg press to today's literal world wide web of interconnected communications.

But we're still asking children and pre-adults (as well as alleged adults such as you and I) to be able to absorb a timeline of information - a timeline that has become more full and subject to subtleties - the world they're being asked to grow in to.

Not trying to be original, just thinking out loud.

Submitted July 5, 2026 at 04:39AM by RamaSchneider https://ift.tt/gXm1JT5