So we have twin pillars - economic and
intellectual. And my view is that this model
has caused chaos in many people's lives; it's
been great for some, there have been people
who have benefitted wonderfully from it.
But most people have not. Instead they
suffer this; this is the modern epidemic
and it's as misplaced and as it’s fictitious.
This is the plague of ADHD.
Now this is a map of the instance that ADHD
in America or prescriptions for ADHD.
Don't mistake me, I don't mean to say there
is no such thing as Attention Deficit Disorder.
I'm not qualified to say if there is such a thing.
I know that a great majority of psychologists
and paediatricians think there is such a thing,
but it's still a matter of debate.
What I do know for a fact is it's not an epidemic.
These kids are being medicated as routinely
as we had our tonsils taken out. And on
the same whimsical basis and for the same
reason — medical fashion. Our children are
living in the most intensely stimulating period
in the history of the Earth. They're being
besieged with information and calls for their
attention from every platform — computers,
from iPhones, from advertising hoardings,
from hundreds of television channels and
we're penalising them now for getting
distracted. From what? Boring stuff at school,
for the most part. (…)
Now this tells an interesting story because
you could have imagined it going the other
way could you? You start off not being very
good but you get better as you get older.
But this shows two things: one is we all have
this capacity and; two, it mostly deteriorates.
Now a lot of things have happened to these
kids as they've grown up, a lot. But one of the
most important things that has happened
to them I'm convinced is that by now they've
become educated. They've spent ten years
at school being told there's one answer it's
at the back and don't look. And don't copy
because that's cheating. Outside school that's
called collaboration no but inside schools...
This isn't because teachers want it this way it's
just because it h \ [