JULY 18 — I once attended a workshop by Harvard’s David Perkins in some place which didn’t serve Malaysian food. Given my usual KL non-attentiveness, Perkins’ workshop title — “Educating for the unknown” — is the only thing I recall from his talk. 

But it’s a good title, ain’t it? All those classes and exams our kids sit and plough through — where exactly are they headed, right? Do they factor in the fact that, uh, we simply DON’T KNOW CRAP about the next 10 minutes, let alone the next two decades?

1. Beat the world

Be the best in the world at something; "world" here being whoever knows you knows that nobody can hold a candle to that thing you do. Seth Godin said there are literally a gazillion things to be "best in the world" at. 

Newsflash: It doesn’t have to something "glamorous" like quantum lasers and shit. It could be plumbing, chess, haggling at the pasar malam, fixing computers, which blogging platforms are trending, which cereals not to eat, where to get the best deals on TVs, where to eat the best bak kut teh, etc. 

If you can monetise your skill, great. If not, it’s fine, too. As long as you love the stuff and you’re helping people — and even God takes your advice — you will be "paid" somehow.

Why is this important? Weren’t we talking about the unknown? The answer is twisty: You need to be a universe-class expert at something NOT so much for your sake, but for the sake of other people when they dive into an uncertain world.

When people face more and more ambiguity and unfamiliarity, the value of anyone offering even a modicum of assurance and real-to-the-bone expertise goes up. 

Like a translucent buoy in a crazy-ass raging ocean of darkness, if you’re exceptionally good at something, you’ll stand out. And that can’t be a bad thing.

When we can’t know what’s about to happen down the road, let’s at least be a bad-ass monster at what we do know.

2. Keep it cool, Dr Banner

Sailing out into unknown oceans involves not so much what we know will work, but also what we’re pretty certain won’t. Choosing which island to explore is ambiguous; ensuring we don’t hit an iceberg is less so. Selecting the better employer may be tricky; not cursing or farting at the interview is a no-brainer.

Again, we can be more certain about what won’t work than about what will. Hence, a huge chunk of educating for the unknown will be about preventing mistakes, avoiding lock-in, taming negative tendencies. 

For starters, think about our history and how many times we had emotional meltdowns or outbursts. Now, how would our lives be better if we could hop onto a time machine, go back to our worst tantrums and simply not have them? 

How would our lives change if we could replay the videotape of our lives, only at those critical moments when we said or did something totally psychotic, we activated healthier alternatives instead?

Ergo, the need for some serious EQ immersion at school.

Reports are coming in that the truck driver who rammed through the crowd in Nice was emotionally unstable, "scary", etc. Are people with severely low EQs vulnerable to being conduits for terrorism? Sigh. How often and seriously is EQ taught in schools? Bigger sigh.

Folks low in EQ are fragile. And what happens to everything fragile? They break eventually. For an unknown world, for whatever uncertain hits us, it’s good not to break. Duh.

3. Go Zootopia (try everything)

I once asked a group of students what their goals over their next few years were. Their answers utterly depressed me: “I just want to get my degree.”

Seriously? That’s messed up. Three to four years and the only thing we want to achieve is to get an awkwardly shaped piece of paper handed to us by a guy (notice it’s always a guy) in a Harry Potter suit in a ceremony held somewhere with expensive parking. Three to four years and the highlight of our journey in life are exams, assignments and lousy cafeteria lunches.

That’s sad. That’s not an education for the unknown — that’s educating for a known misery.

Try this. Other than obtaining that BSc or whatever, how about these equally important goals during university?

  • Earning at least RM10,000 over three years (online, part-timing, free-lancing, whatever)
  • Learn at least three new skills (tap-dancing, juggling, origami, magic tricks, photography, how to make roti canai, etc.)
  • Visiting at least four countries (now everyone can fly, remember?)
  • Making at least 20 friends or "connections" which could form a strong initial foundation for your career
  • Running at least three marathons
  • Reading at least 30 non-fiction books (that’s only 10 books a year, hardly Nobel Prize standards)

You get the point. End of day, whatever the result, it’s a rich body of experiences and insights gained. Way way better than looking forward to nothing but those pricey sandwiches served on graduation day. Have I mentioned that you’ll also learn a lot in the process?

So, be a master at something/anything, don’t screw things up, and don’t be a dull daisy. Take Shakira’s advice. Try everything.

Carpe bleedin’ diem.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.