A lot of educated people who are very successful in their careers are a mess with their own lives. The very way they are, it is very obvious they are not using their brains when it comes to their own life. So we must teach our children how to use their brains, not just to read and write. Reading and writing are important, but using your brains is more important. Education should stimulate your intelligence, not take it off. Today, education scientists around the world are saying that if a child goes through 20 years of formal education, 70 percent of his intelligence is irrevocably destroyed. That means you are coming out as a knowledgeable idiot, and that is a huge disservice to humanity because the future of the world is just in these children’s brains. Whether we are going to produce beautiful things or very destructive bombs on the planet simply depends on how well-coordinated a human being's emotions and intelligence are. How well-coordinated a human being determines how well he will use his intelligence and that will ultimately decide what he will produce in the world.
The most intelligent people in the world have contributed to all the violence on the planet. A certain segment of people has always been essentially violent. Initially, when he was a caveman he killed with a stone, that is the Stone Age; Iron Age means he killed with iron; Bronze Age means he killed with bronze; Nuclear Age means he kills with nuclear weapons. Some people have always been essentially violent, but the scale of violence that can happen today has happened because the best brains in the world have worked to create the most violent ways to kill humanity. If the intelligent in the world had not cooperated, a violent man would kill one or two, with a stick or a stone. But only because the intelligent in the world have cooperated, a violent man can kill in millions.
Intelligence twisted out against our own wellbeing is not intelligence. Intelligence is the biggest blessing that a human being has, but right now it has become a curse upon humanity simply because the human being is not coming out as a well-coordinated being. He has dislocated the human being within himself. This intelligence is dangerous. If you were like a donkey, the maximum violence you would cause is a kick with both your legs, nothing more. But now human intelligence has become so dangerous. What should have been a blessing has become such a big curse, and education is definitely playing a huge role in that.
Actually, it would be wonderful if this world was guided by little children because they are closer to life than anybody else. After all, everything that you wish to do on the planet is just for human wellbeing. Human wellbeing means human happiness. If you look at your children and yourself, definitely your children are a lot happier than you. They are capable of more happiness than you in 24 hours’ time. When that is the case, tell me who should be a consultant for life, you or your child? Definitely the children. You are carried away by your thoughts and emotions but your children are much closer to life. If only the world learnt from children, this would be a very beautiful place.
Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a bestselling author. He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2017. Isha.sadhguru.org