I went to a private high school, one of the best in my area of the country. The instruction was excellent, but nothing taught or experienced prepared for the sort of examination to which my thoughts would be subjected in college.
The human brain is not a gun or a computer, both of which perform complex operations that were designed by others.
The brain is capable of subtlety and creativity.
Unlike any machine, the brain can heal itself, as we witness with the recovery of Rep Giffords.
Yet for all its power, the brain must be trained and not only trained but trained to be trained. The brain must learn how to learn. The brain must learn how to discriminate. Before the brain can become creative, it must be disciplined. And that sort of discipline does not happen in high school.
I'm not arguing that an occasional prodigy doesn't express itself at a very early age, but such individuals are the exception and not the rule. In fact, their existence proves the rule.
I “accepted” very little of the substance of my professors’ arguments. To this day, I still laugh at the folly of some of their opinions.
I learned from my professors not opinions, but the willingness to criticize - and especially to criticize the opinions expressed in class by anyone and everyone. I learned not to passively accept anyone’s opinion. And I learned how to criticize. I learned how to separate fact from opinion.
I feel sorry for you. If you went to college, your years must have been miserable indeed.