Inside Education - a podcast for educators interested in teaching Programme 402, Derek Sivers on Learning, Creating and Educating (20-5-20)
In this engaging discussion, Derek Sivers—musician, author, and founder of CD Baby—explores the importance of critical thinking over traditional education. He argues that being smart is about questioning assumptions and finding your interests, rather than merely completing assignments. Sivers highlights the impact of great teachers who inspire creativity and emphasizes personalized learning. He also reflects on the rapid pace of traditional curricula and shares how a shift in education can foster a more engaged and curious mindset.
01:10:51
Smart vs. Stupid Environments
- Schools should encourage smartness, not just rote learning.
- Environments can either reward stupidity or critical thinking.
Homeschooling Success
- Derek Sivers' son thrived during homeschooling amidst the COVID-19 lockdown.
- Personalized projects and direct feedback fueled his engagement.
Educated vs. Smart
- Being 'educated' means completing assignments, not necessarily being smart.
- 'Smart' involves critical thinking and challenging assumptions.
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Intro
00:00 • 3min
The Fluidity of Self-Identity and the Appeal of Pop Philosophy
02:46 • 2min
Rethinking Education: A Personal Journey
04:38 • 9min
The Impact of Collective Reading on Education
13:34 • 4min
Transformative Learning Journeys
17:07 • 21min
Maintaining Focus and Embracing Creativity
38:33 • 18min
Rethinking Education: Embracing Individual Paths
56:42 • 12min
Engaging with the Audience and Upcoming Works
01:08:20 • 2min
#680
• Mentioned in 28 episodes
Total Recall
My Unbelievably True Life Story
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Simon & Schuster Inc
In 'Total Recall,' Arnold Schwarzenegger shares his life story in his signature larger-than-life style.
The book chronicles his early life in Austria, his rise to fame as a bodybuilding champion, his successful career in Hollywood, and his tenure as the Governor of California.
It highlights his immense ambition, tenacity, and business acumen, making him one of the greatest immigrant success stories of our time.
#28501
Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches
Marvin Harris
Marvin Harris answers perplexing questions about human behavior by showing that cultural practices, no matter how bizarre they may seem, stem from identifiable and intelligible sources.
He explains how societies create rituals to avoid harming their natural ecosystems, such as the Middle Eastern ban on pig products due to ecological concerns.
The book also delves into the origins of warfare as a means of population control and discusses the role of religious movements and witch hunts in historical contexts.
#30243
Become the Primary Teacher Everyone Wants to Have
Sean Delaney
#13
• Mentioned in 267 episodes
Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari
This book surveys the history of humankind from the Stone Age to the 21st century, focusing on Homo sapiens.
It divides human history into four major parts: the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the Unification of Humankind, and the Scientific Revolution.
Harari argues that Homo sapiens dominate the world due to their unique ability to cooperate in large numbers through beliefs in imagined realities such as gods, nations, money, and human rights.
The book also examines the impact of human activities on the global ecosystem and speculates on the future of humanity, including the potential for genetic engineering and non-organic life.
#224
• Mentioned in 58 episodes
Guns, germs, and steel
The Fates of Human Societies
Fabián Chueca
Jared DIAMOND
(MEI )DAI MENG DE (Diamond J. ) XIE YAN GUANG YI
In this book, Jared Diamond explains why Eurasian and North African civilizations have survived and conquered others.
He argues that differences in societal development arise primarily from geographical causes.
The book details how agricultural societies developed immunities to deadly diseases, advanced in technology, and formed centralized political structures, ultimately leading to the conquest of other societies.
Diamond also discusses the impact of germs, domesticated animals, and environmental factors on human history.
#686
• Mentioned in 28 episodes
Anything you want
Derek Sivers
In 'Anything You Want,' Derek Sivers shares 40 powerful lessons learned from his experience of accidentally starting and growing CD Baby into a successful business.
The book emphasizes the importance of creating a business that is a 'utopia' or perfect world, where the focus is on making dreams come true for both the entrepreneur and the customers.
Sivers stresses that business is not just about money but about helping people and making them happy.
He also highlights the advantages of starting with no money, the irrelevance of traditional business plans, and the importance of prioritizing customer needs over personal gain.
The book includes memorable stories of his mistakes and successes, including his interactions with Steve Jobs and the impact of his decisions on his business.
#89
• Mentioned in 111 episodes
The Odyssey
Homer
The Odyssey, attributed to Homer, is an ancient Greek epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. The poem explores Odysseus's encounters with various mythical creatures, divine interventions, and natural challenges.
Upon his return to Ithaca, he must confront the suitors who have been vying for his wife Penelope's hand in marriage.
With the help of his son Telemachus and the goddess Athena, Odysseus devises a plan to defeat the suitors and reclaim his throne.
The poem is a reflection on human nature, loyalty, and the consequences of one's actions, and it remains a crucial component of ancient Greek literature and Western cultural heritage.
#99
• Mentioned in 105 episodes
Flow
The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
In this classic work, Csikszentmihalyi investigates 'optimal experience' and reveals that true happiness and satisfaction can be achieved through a state of consciousness called 'flow.
' During flow, individuals experience complete concentration on the task, clarity of goals, and immediate feedback.
The book demonstrates how this positive state can be controlled and how it can improve the quality of life by unlocking meaning, creativity, and peak performance.
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.
This week on the podcast my guest is Derek Sivers, a musician who founded the CD company CD Baby before leaving it to write and practise philosophy. His website is well worth checking out. Among the topics we discuss on the podcast are:
- We all have the ability to be smart or to be stupid and how some environments reward stupidity and others reward being smart
- Thriving educationally in and out of school: being engaged and receiving direct feedback
- The power of finding the intersection between students’ interests and a nudge from parents’ towards learning/growing experiences
- Why being smart (critical thinking, challenge assumptions, look past the obvious, to question the world) is more impressive than being educated (you’ve done the assignments)
- Naval Ravikant is an example of someone he thinks is smart.
- Smart is something you do, not something you are
- A list of books Derek Sivers has read and the notes he made on them.
- A great teacher or educator interrupts expectations: teaching a mindset (questioning assumptions, interrupting expectations) rather than delivering information. Teaching students how to carry on or learn on their own, to be smart out in the world).
- You don’t have to copy the teacher's example all the time; as long as you get the gist of an idea, you can get creative within it.
- Impact of Kimo Williams on Derek.
- Why the typical school curriculum goes way too slowly
- Being in awe at the patience of public school teachers
- Intrinsic interest in music following an initial foundation in music
- Moving from being passive in the education system to taking control of his own education: from mediocrity to excelling. His love of learning came after school
- The importance of having something to pursue, something you want, something you’re driven towards – whatever it is. By learning to be great at that one thing, you learn everything else (how to learn, improve, practise, mastery) as a side effect.
- How well his education prepared him for being an entrepreneur
- Why he things entrepreneurship cannot be taught successfully (it’s very holistic, about psychology, thinking about things from the customer’s, client’s, partner’s point of view), being out in the world staying at the forefront of people’s minds, bring flexible.
- Seeing learning as a key to his success; loving having his brain tickled – learning new ways of looking at things
- The need to have a focus for what you want in life. His current focus is on being a great writer, programmer and dad.
- Recognising that sometimes we just stumble into things (e.g. circumstance or a recommendation from someone we admire) or deliberately spreading out in other directions.
- Audio version of The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson:(listened to after hearing a podcast between Tyler Cowen and Emily Wilson)
- Avoiding distraction by finding work that is not so easy that it’s boring and not so difficult that it’s overwhelming as described in Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Maintaining focus by hating having something unfinished
- Learning for the sake of creating something
- Pain and anger as sources of ideas.
- Things he wants to create (build a house from scratch; a company that will host websites after you die); a forum on which to highlight the next generation of musicians (BMajor); build a 100-acre forest over 15 years; create an app to connect people who like talking on the phone; and Cloud Free a service to teach people technical independence
- Finding something that is endlessly interesting (computer programming for him)
- Learning from different media and perspectives: reading diverse books, listening, multi-media videos, courses that give assignments
- Mastery School (with coaches) sivers.org/masch: Pick something to do and make it happen
- The Flipped Classroom
He recommends the following books, article and pieces of music in the course of the interview:
- Total recall Arnold Schwarzenegger’s autobiography
- Guns, germs and steel by Jared Diamond
- Cows, pigs, wars and witches by Marvin Harris.
- Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
- Charlie Tips on How to Raise Your Kids as Billionaires
- Black Sabbath Iron Man
- Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley