Knowing how to think is better than a lifetime supply of fish

 / 

Give someone a fish and they’ll eat for a day. Teach someone how to fish and they’ll eat for a lifetime. This is a noble sentiment but I think we can do better. Much, much better.

We recently subscribed to Masterclass™️ and have been loving it. My wife and I take turns with our two daughters on choosing the next class and then we watch a bit every night after dinner.

We’ve learnt about comedy, writing and editing from the legendary Steve Martin. All I can say is: “Now THAT’S a masterclass!”.

Then we learnt about magic from famous duo Penn & Teller. Again, we really enjoyed this class and I highly recommend it.

Currently we are learning about science and critical thinking from world famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He’s a remarkable thinker and communicator.

He’s actually the one that got me thinking about fishing. He says that knowing how to think empowers you far beyond others who know only what to think.

So how do we improve on teaching people to fish?

We teach them how to solve problems. How to experiment. How to invent. How to have thoughtful disagreement. How to write well. How to be open minded skeptics. How to understand first principles and second order consequences.

Feeding is good.
Teaching is better.
Understanding is best.