The Ivy League of mediocrity

Albert Einstein once stated that genius is hampered — and not nurtured — by traditional education. In his "Autobiographical Notes," for example, he writes that "One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year. It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mostly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty." As final papers and exams approach, this "coercion" seems to grow in importance, and thinking and originality seem to be less and less emphasized.

I'm not going to get into another one of those professors-should-assign-less-work-so-we-can-spend-more-time-thinking complaints (as true as they may be). Instead I'm going to talk about whether or not this first-rate education we are getting is stifling our creativity and potential for greatness. According to many studies done by psychologists, those who achieve levels of "genius" or "eminence" in the world were talented, well-trained and highly motivated individuals who had two paths from which to choose. Path one was that of conformity: working within the framework of an existing structure — or in modern times, attending an Ivy League college, attaining a steady, well-paying job and so forth. Path two is that of non-conformity or creating new schools of thought, rebelling against established ideas and authority. Basically an iconoclastic attitude towards life which might be viewed as a little 'weird' by peers and horrifying to elders. Perhaps dropping out of school mid-semester regardless of what parents might say or just leaving for Bali on a boat to ponder the meaning of life.

The results of the studies showed that those who followed path one were likely to achieve success and respectability within their fields but not likely to leave a distinctive mark on their societies. Those who followed path two, however, had a much greater chance of becoming 'great.'

Perhaps free thought and individuality are stifled at established institutions of learning. I mean sure, we come out knowledgeable of the world, educated and self-assured, but are we then less likely to become the world's real 'movers and shakers?' We are trained here to think of following the traditional structures laid out for us. We should take up investment banking and make money. We should become lawyers and doctors because that's respectable. But 200 years from now, who will ever remember the name of an I-banker or a doctor? We aren't really changing the world. I suspect that perhaps some people don't care and just want to make their money, enjoy themselves — and that is all. But what is the significance of that kind of life?

All I know is that many of the "eminent" people in history were nonconformists, many of whom dropped out of school, had serious emotional or mental problems and rebelled intensely against established institutions and ideas often to the shock of their peers. F. Scott Fitzgerald, as just a minute example, dropped out of Princeton only to become one of the greats in literature. According to psychologist Arnold Ludwig in his book, "The Price of Greatness," "those who achieve true greatness have a feral outlook in their work, which resists attempts at domestication and social programming."

Does educational structure spell doom for greatness? By creating structures of comfort and security (examples: eating clubs, majors, laid out career paths and so forth), do we become content with our state in the world and stop seeking more? We all have an enormous amount of talent, but are inspiration and passion being sucked dry? Like Tennessee Williams once said, "Security is a kind of death." And I feel like we have too much security at Princeton. Alice Wang is a Wilson School major from Bedminster, NJ. She can be reached at awang@princeton.edu.