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INTEREST: Hideaki Anno's Advice to Students: "Do What You Want In High School"




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AmpedForAnime



Joined: 28 Jun 2017
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:02 pm Reply with quote
Anno: Do what you want in high school!
Boy: Build a harem!?
Anno: Laughing Not on your best day, kid.
Boy: But--
Anno: Not on your worst either.
Student: Sad
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:05 pm Reply with quote
Pretty great advice. It's good to hear people of influence saying things like this. People need to focus less on testing and more on practical skills and discovering their passions. I think that's a problem around the world, but probably even amplified in many Asian communities.
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:18 pm Reply with quote
As a high school student, the problem with this is that some kids (I go to school with several examples) really don’t do anything but listen to loud music, skip as much class as they can get away with and smoke blunts. I don’t know what skills they can develop from that.
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Codeanime93



Joined: 28 Jul 2017
Posts: 599
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:32 pm Reply with quote
Anno: And if your estranged father comes asking you to help him pilot a giant monster mecha thing, refuse! Ok, well the chances of that happening are zero, so don't worry about it.
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WhiteOrochi



Joined: 01 Apr 2009
Posts: 87
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:01 pm Reply with quote
Good advice. During my last two years of High school, my studies were a rollercoaster which reflected how I was feeling about my passions outside of it. Didn't talk to too many people and life was rather dull, to be honest. It did eventually wake me up to decide what I ultimately wanted to do. Thanks again, Anno.
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H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:07 pm Reply with quote
Ah Yamato, what can't you save? Anno reaffirms his role as one of my heroes yet again.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:24 pm Reply with quote
It's probably the best advice, because what awaits them afterward is all manners of corporate and political tyranny that just want you miserable, dirt poor, a slave with no independent thought, or worse. The education system really needs online classes for both K-12 and higher education.
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Sakagami Tomoyo



Joined: 06 Dec 2008
Posts: 940
Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:49 pm Reply with quote
The most fundamental problem with the way education is done is that its approached in a mass production theory-first kind of way; schools full of students all reading from the same textbooks, classes full of students reading from the same blackboard, everyone told to do the same thing the same way and telling them they're at fault if this approach doesn't work for them. The way things should be done is for students to be able to try doing a bunch of different things to see what they're most interested in/best at, and let them pursue that while attaching more general education as it relates to that subject. In my case, for example, I'd have done much better with maths if I'd been given a computer, programming tools and lessons and taught maths as it came up for programming something.
CatSword wrote:
As a high school student, the problem with this is that some kids (I go to school with several examples) really don’t do anything but listen to loud music, skip as much class as they can get away with and smoke blunts. I don’t know what skills they can develop from that.

And in this case, if the school approached them with studying music from a high-level-down approach, they might get somewhere. This is why these lyrics work, which leads to language study; this is how they do this with this instrument. leading to this is how you play this instrument, leading to music notation; these are mixing techniques they employed and why that works, leading to this is how to use the equipment, leading to this is why the equipment works, etc.

And maybe it wouldn't work on all of them, but it working for some is better than the current system not working for so many.
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Compelled to Reply



Joined: 14 Jan 2017
Posts: 358
PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:55 am Reply with quote
Anno is indeed correct, but that's more or less common sense and easier said than done. Entering high school, I intended to pursue a career in computer science, until realizing half way I hated it, even though I was always considered a techie. I don't have a practical mind and was bored of math. It wasn't until I found out my interests were applicable to a specific field, and I still sometimes presently regret the limitations of my degrees, bachelor's and master's.

relyat08 wrote:
Pretty great advice. It's good to hear people of influence saying things like this. People need to focus less on testing and more on practical skills and discovering their passions. I think that's a problem around the world, but probably even amplified in many Asian communities.

I do give Japan the benefit of the doubt as many schools still provide a hands-on, jack-of-all-trades approach to help students find their calling and obtain basic skills. Some even require extracurricular activities. However, I can still see how pressure would exist in expecting students to know already what they want to do with their life, as exemplified in career choice forms you always see in anime. Conversely, you're expected to go to college to be successful here in the West, very few exceptions. It's there you're supposed to find out what you want to do, but too many times people constantly change their major, drop out, or gradate with a useless degree not pertinent to their talents.

Hoppy800 wrote:
It's probably the best advice, because what awaits them afterward is all manners of corporate and political tyranny that just want you miserable, dirt poor, a slave with no independent thought, or worse. The education system really needs online classes for both K-12 and higher education.

I think online classes have merits, but shouldn't replace physical classes, rather be complementary. Too many diploma mills are completely online, which goes to show of their quality.
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Banken



Joined: 29 May 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 6:42 am Reply with quote
It's OK to be obsessive about something if you actually put in the effort to be good at it.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:46 am Reply with quote
relyat08 wrote:
Pretty great advice. It's good to hear people of influence saying things like this. People need to focus less on testing and more on practical skills and discovering their passions. I think that's a problem around the world, but probably even amplified in many Asian communities.


Unfortunately, especially in Asian communities, you're going to get tremendous resistance from the students' parents, who will more likely be dead-set in the old ways, and, in some cases, will be angry the students are interested in something that might not pay well or bring prestige.

Certainly, that's how it was with me and my parents when I was in high school. I wanted to pursue something in art and animation. My parents would have none of that. That made me want to take that path even more, which made them oppose me even more, until they started sabotaging me. It was like that too in school: Some of the teachers didn't understand why I'd want to go to something low-paying like screenwriting or storyboarding, and the counselor either couldn't comprehend it or didn't believe me. Now here I am at an office job completely outside of the entertainment business (but I do intend to start my own company) because my parents had stayed one step ahead of me and burned every bridge I would've liked to cross.

This problem is probably less so in Japan due to the presence of a thriving entertainment industry though. In my parents' country, it's a huge problem because not only was its entertainment business practically on life support (it's better now, but when my parents immigrated to the United States, they did almost nothing but dub TV shows, movies, and pop music from other countries, and being in this field was considered the lowest of the low), money will let you get away with anything there as long as it's physically possible, as you could bribe your way anywhere you'd like. This meant money WAS a be-all end-all in that country.

Sakagami Tomoyo wrote:
The most fundamental problem with the way education is done is that its approached in a mass production theory-first kind of way; schools full of students all reading from the same textbooks, classes full of students reading from the same blackboard, everyone told to do the same thing the same way and telling them they're at fault if this approach doesn't work for them. The way things should be done is for students to be able to try doing a bunch of different things to see what they're most interested in/best at, and let them pursue that while attaching more general education as it relates to that subject. In my case, for example, I'd have done much better with maths if I'd been given a computer, programming tools and lessons and taught maths as it came up for programming something.


Have you ever read Why Children Fail by John Holt? This was a book from 1950 and points out the very same problem you have: That every student is taught the same thing at the same pace and to tackle problems the same way, and any student who does otherwise is penalized and shamed. I noticed that when I was in school too, but it never became clear to me just how bad the problem is until I read that book. Equally disconcerting is just how old this book is, back in the days of the one-teacher schoolhouse. 67 years have passed and these problems haven't changed one millimeter.

The issue both you and he propose (individualized progression for each student and a more hands-on approach integrating each student's desires), however, is that they're very expensive and might not be within the ability of a school or a school district to do. The students have such diverse interests that it'll take a lot of people to get this system to work. And then there's someone like me--I wanted to make cartoons for TV, and despite "Hollywood" even being in my high school's name, there was nobody working for the school who had any interest in that and I knew more about how TV shows were made and animated than any of the teachers or faculty I encountered (except for one mathematics teacher who knew a lot about everything anyway), and I was always being pressured to stop watching them.

Which also reminds me...when I was in the 3rd grade, someone came in (I believe he was a microbiologist) and said something like what Anno said: He said that if you find what you like to do and want to do as an adult, focus on that and begin getting ready as early as possible, even if it's something that doesn't make a lot of money, as being happy at your job is more important. (Makes me think he wasn't too happy with his work.) Once he was gone, the teacher (who, no surprise, was Asian) angrily and loudly told us not to listen to him and to focus on high-paying jobs so we won't be eating out of the garbage for the rest of our lives.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:21 pm Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
relyat08 wrote:
Pretty great advice. It's good to hear people of influence saying things like this. People need to focus less on testing and more on practical skills and discovering their passions. I think that's a problem around the world, but probably even amplified in many Asian communities.


Unfortunately, especially in Asian communities, you're going to get tremendous resistance from the students' parents, who will more likely be dead-set in the old ways, and, in some cases, will be angry the students are interested in something that might not pay well or bring prestige.

Certainly, that's how it was with me and my parents when I was in high school. I wanted to pursue something in art and animation. My parents would have none of that. That made me want to take that path even more, which made them oppose me even more, until they started sabotaging me. It was like that too in school: Some of the teachers didn't understand why I'd want to go to something low-paying like screenwriting or storyboarding, and the counselor either couldn't comprehend it or didn't believe me. Now here I am at an office job completely outside of the entertainment business (but I do intend to start my own company) because my parents had stayed one step ahead of me and burned every bridge I would've liked to cross.

This problem is probably less so in Japan due to the presence of a thriving entertainment industry though. In my parents' country, it's a huge problem because not only was its entertainment business practically on life support (it's better now, but when my parents immigrated to the United States, they did almost nothing but dub TV shows, movies, and pop music from other countries, and being in this field was considered the lowest of the low), money will let you get away with anything there as long as it's physically possible, as you could bribe your way anywhere you'd like. This meant money WAS a be-all end-all in that country.


That's a pretty sad story, but certainly relatable. Most of my best friends are Asian and my family is intermarried with them more than a couple time at this point, my first girlfriend was also Korean. Every single one of them suffered from the same level of pressure, and it was nothing like what my non-Asian peers experienced. My best friend ended up in the military after being kicked out of his house because he wanted to work in film, rather than become a dentist, for example. I'm sure that's the kind of story you've heard over and over. It's extremely frustrating. Sad
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
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Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:46 pm Reply with quote
relyat08 wrote:
That's a pretty sad story, but certainly relatable. Most of my best friends are Asian and my family is intermarried with them more than a couple time at this point, my first girlfriend was also Korean. Every single one of them suffered from the same level of pressure, and it was nothing like what my non-Asian peers experienced. My best friend ended up in the military after being kicked out of his house because he wanted to work in film, rather than become a dentist, for example. I'm sure that's the kind of story you've heard over and over. It's extremely frustrating. Sad


Yep, in many of these cultures, parents are encouraged to shape their children into something that they can show off to other parents, which is itself a vicious cycle as these parents do so in the first place because other parents are showing off their kids to them. I see it as a variant of Keeping Up with the Joneses: The parents don't want to feel like their kids are falling behind other parents' kids, so they push them harder and put them under increasingly rigorous academic study.

Are you familiar with the SmarTall pill? It's something aimed at Korean parents to feed their children with under the idea that it'll make them more academically competent and, well, taller. I have no clue if it actually works (I'm guessing it doesn't), but it DOES show how competitive this sort of parenting can be, that someone would sell the academic and stature equivalent of steroids.

I was in a gifted program at my high school and so I encountered a LOT of students (mostly Korean, a few Chinese) who had these stories. Most of them, unfortunately, had their ambition beaten out of them by that point and submitted to exactly what their parents wanted of them.
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Sakagami Tomoyo



Joined: 06 Dec 2008
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Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:27 pm Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
Have you ever read Why Children Fail by John Holt? This was a book from 1950 and points out the very same problem you have

No, but it doesn't surprise me in the least that a problem that was identified decades ago still hasn't had anything done about it. It's happened with the use of fossil fuels, tobacco, asbestos, and gods know how many other things.

leafy sea dragon wrote:
The issue both you and he propose (individualized progression for each student and a more hands-on approach integrating each student's desires), however, is that they're very expensive and might not be within the ability of a school or a school district to do. The students have such diverse interests that it'll take a lot of people to get this system to work.

Part of the problem here is that teaching is approached as a full-time profession in itself. If the workforce was oriented around everyone working part-time at their profession and part-time in teaching (and not necessarily formally in a school setting), this would provide both enough people teaching a variety of subjects to appropriate interest and skill levels, and address the increasing problem with there being more people needing jobs than there are jobs. Early childhood and primary education probably still needs to mostly be dedicated professionals, but secondary education really needs to change.
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2171
PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:04 pm Reply with quote
CatSword wrote:
As a high school student, the problem with this is that some kids (I go to school with several examples) really don’t do anything but listen to loud music, skip as much class as they can get away with and smoke blunts. I don’t know what skills they can develop from that.


As someone who successfully graduated high school and beyond, I can say they wouldn't have gotten any worthwhile skills from listening to soft music and going to class every chance they could get away with.

Self-study and teenage engulfment in hobbies that would eventually turn into jobs and a career came in way more handy for me than what they taught in school. Now if you're going to a vocational school where you're actually getting hands on experience and literally getting training and certifications in the industry you want to pursue, skipping those would be dumb... but normal high school?
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