What to Teach Kids in the 21st Century: Skills, Not Encyclopedias

June 2, 20251 min
What to Teach Kids in the 21st Century: Skills, Not Encyclopedias

What skills will kids actually need in the future

I keep thinking about what I can actually pass on to my kids that will help them down the line.

Clearly it's not the "Soviet school" gentleman's set: hard academic skills across every subject at once. In an age of internet-in-your-pocket and AI, who needs encyclopedic knowledge of biology?

The ability to negotiate and build things together

So what, then?

I think the most important thing is the ability to negotiate with other people and build something together. Which means languages, and lots and lots of practice communicating through ambiguous situations, plus psychology and business ethics. Seasoned with a bit of finance, investing, management, and programming. A dash of law... Wait, hold on.

So where does anyone actually teach all this?