Ban schools, not TikTok

This text is part of: "Problem of Schooling" by Piotr Wozniak (2017-2024)

Schools are bastions of ignorance

Schools sue social media for damage done to the mental health of students. It can easily be shown, that if their argument is interpreted in the light of science, it is the schools that should be banned.

The main area of ignorance that needs to be remedied is the importance of the pleasure in learning. Learning makes no sense if it is not pleasurable because pleasure is the signal of the match between prior knowledge and new knowledge in the light of individual's goals (see: Pleasure of learning for details).

The argument against TikTok is that it is addictive because it provides a stream of bite-sized pieces of knowledge that generate a stream of endorphins and dopamine. This reasoning is almost correct. However, the reward is a constant component of all forms of efficient learning. In other words, the pleasure of learning should be cherished. The addictive nature of learning should be attributed to reward deprivation in children. There are many addictive factors in our lives from sugar through alcohol to sex. They never become an addiction in conditions of freedom and contentment. If TikTok should be banned, so should a fantastic book or a great movie. They are great because they deliver knowledge and experience that satisfy individual needs.

TikTok is loved because it delivers a great learning algorithm

School destroys mental health and makes pleasurable things addictive

Schools use dog training tricks

The argument against social media goes further. B.F. Skinner make us think of rewards as tools of control. Allegedly, TikTok can control behavior like Skinner could train a pigeon to play ping pong. Again, the ignorance of the pleasure of learning lays at the root of that misinterpretation. Pigeons get extrinsic rewards to perform tricks in which the pleasure does not come from learning. The pleasure comes from the pigeon's owner. In contrast, TikTok generates pleasure that comes from actual knowledge delivered during the learning experience. There is only a tiny problem with TikTok knowledge. The knowledge that the kid's brain computes as valuable is often deemed by parents and teachers as a "waste of time". Adults are wrong (see: Child is always right). TikTok changes behavior by delivering knowledge, and this is a natural part of learning that serves adaptation to the environment.

Dog training is a metaphor for using TikTok. This metaphor entirely misses the nature of learning. In contrast, the dog training argument perfectly fits the methods used in a typical school. Children are trained by rewards and penalties like dogs. The usual trick a child is to perform is to pass a test (by cramming). The usual reward is a good grade and/or praise. The penalty is a bad grade, lack of promotion, or scolding. The myth of the Prussian school model says that those dog tricks add up to some kind of knowledge and skills. However, the child is rarely trained on the same trick again. It rarely finds pleasure in learning. As a result, the speed of forgetting is comparable to the speed of learning. It is a waste of life at the cost of a taxpayer's money. Human potential for learning is 20-200 times greater than that what is achieved at school.

Schools use dog training methods. TikTok employs actual learning

Theft of intelligence

However, waste of time is just a tiny component of the damage done by schooling. Coercion in learning leads to conditioning a dislike to individual areas of learning. It also conditions a dislike to learning in general. This way, the tragic product of a coercive school is a human who lost the most precious ingredient in the development of intelligence: passion for learning.

What is worse, the loss of the love of learning is the most drastic form of reward deprivation. This is what turns a human brain into a helpless computer prone to addictions. Whichever pleasure such a crippled brain finds in life, there is a risk of addiction. Harmful TikTok addiction is just one of those options. Drugs, alcohol, or computer gaming belong to the same category. The harm comes from coercion at school, not from TikTok itself (or other addictive agents).

Coercive school robs children of time, passions, mental health and intelligence

Blame-shifting ignorami

In conclusion, the argument used by schools against TikTok, should be used to ban schools instead! Naturally, a more rational approach is to give up on coercion. Coercion should be illegal. Kids will know how to turn school into a place of fun. Naturally, if TikTok keeps up with competition, TikTok will be part of school life. It is a fantastic learning tool.

The myth of good school is so well indoctrinated, that schools always find a culprit for their own wrongdoing

Figure: In March 2022, Kacper Borys announced the end of school slavery. TikTok link

Fareed Zakaria's blunder

I love the good guy, Fareed Zakaria. I doubt I missed an episode of his GPS. That's some 700 hours of non-stop learning. He delivers, a stream of bite-sized portion of dopamine that adds to the fun of life. Sadly, this text was inspired by Zakaria's last "My Take". It delivered a myth of neuroscience every second sentence. This article is a product of that cumulative punch of misinformation. A child observer might comment "Why are you watching this harmful stuff. TikTok represents all opinions. Not just one biased misinformed view".

Never mind. My love for Fareed does not change. We all err. There is value in wrong models.

Zakarias conclusions are a perversion of reality. He says "we need more rules". That's the formula for more depression, more addictions, and less learning. Just the opposite: we need more freedom, esp. from school coercion.

We need to act now indeed. We need to ban coercion at school. We have a proposal for simple education law in Poland that we want to drive through the parliament. We have a well-known politician who supports the law but does not believe in a coalition of reason that would make adoption realistic. Misinformation does not help. This is why the title of this text is radical. Ignorance is doing real harm to children!