Aug 21 1995

I'm compiling a list of the disadvantages of teachers

1) They can't be excited for you
2) They can't be openminded for you
3) They can't tell you what to be interested in
4) They can't do work for you
5) They can't learn things for you
6) They can't hold classes without you
7) They can't give you the attitude that learning is a worthwhile
	activity


Some people will disagree -- for instance, they'll say that teachers
can provide many things, one of which could really excite you -- "I
had a teacher who introduced me to immunophosphoroluminology, and it
was just what I'd been looking for my whole life. I'm now a
well-respected immunophosphoroluminologist at MIT, and if it had'nt
been for him/her, I'd probably be jerking sodas at some corner store!"
Here is how I view that situation -> the student happened to really be
curious, to really have a gift for chemical/light interactions. But
previously that student had been told or shown that science was
stupid, or that they were bad at it (by parents, teachers, ...) The
teacher didn't become interested for the student, but provided the
encouragement and opportunity where the student found her own self, a
part of herself that already existed.