📐 Measuring Life: How Systems Shape Insecurity
I’ve always been a curious, strong-willed child. Even in first and second grade, I asked questions – lots of them – sometimes questions that didn’t have immediate answers. My teachers didn’t always appreciate that. Most of them, in fact, made it very clear that my curiosity was unwelcome. They seemed threatened whenever I asked something they couldn’t immediately answer.
Looking back, I realize how deeply our education system – and society at large – teaches us that we are not enough unless we fit into predefined measures. From grading systems to constant comparisons, children are conditioned to look outside themselves for validation, rather than listening to their own intuition, curiosity, and sense of possibility. Individuality becomes secondary; conformity is rewarded.
😶🌫️ The Hidden Lessons of Measurement
During my studies in education, I explored this further. In a course on grading and evaluation, I wrote a paper advocating for a school without grades, highlighting decades of research showing that strict numerical evaluation often stifles creativity, curiosity, and intrinsic motivation.
Studies in educational psychology consistently demonstrate that traditional grading can lead to learned helplessness, reduced self-efficacy, and heightened anxiety. Students internalize the notion that their worth is tied to external metrics, rather than personal growth or effort.
Yet my professor dismissed the idea outright, insisting that a school without grades was impossible. He claimed the system required it – completely ignoring the extensive research and successful models from around the world showing the opposite: that students thrive in environments without rigid grading.
In that moment, it became crystal clear to me that it isn’t a lack of evidence or possibility that keeps change from happening. It is exactly people like him – clinging to the familiar, afraid of imagination, unable or unwilling to envision a different path – who sustain the system as it is. Their comfort with the known blocks the freedom, creativity, and individuality that could transform education and society as a whole.
🙇 Encouraged to Think, Conditioned to Obey
We know from research that systems emphasizing constant comparison are strongly correlated with rising rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout – issues that have now become, tragically, a common part of life for children and adults alike.
Even in classrooms, psychology, and philosophy, we are taught that autonomy, critical thinking, and self-awareness are essential for fulfillment and the health of society – and yet, systems punish these qualities. Asking questions, thinking differently, showing boldness…these can trigger defensiveness in others and lead to social or institutional “correction.”
Lessons from My Own Path
I’ve experienced firsthand how damaging this can be – not for me personally, but for the environment it creates around us. Children who are naturally curious, who want to explore, are often made to feel they are the problem. A simple question, a playful comment, or a bold idea can disrupt the comfort of those clinging to established rules.
I remember wanting to become a teacher myself – not to enforce conformity, but to encourage questioning, autonomy, and individuality. I wanted students to explore without fear of judgment, to understand that measurement systems are tools, not ultimate truths. And yet, even in higher education, I saw how entrenched these measures are, how resistance is minimized, and how imagination is often sidelined.
Over time, I realized that by trying to work within this broken system, I wasn’t truly helping the children – I was betraying myself. To teach in a way that sustains a structure I fundamentally disagree with would mean silencing my own truth, my values, my sense of what education could be.
It became clear that the system doesn’t just suppress the curiosity of children; it quietly erodes the integrity of those who see its flaws but are forced to comply.
😔 Why We Let Children Suffer Despite Knowing Better?
Isn't it astonishing and heartbreaking how much evidence exists about the harm of rigid grading and constant evaluation – yet how little changes?
From Finland’s more flexible, mastery-based learning systems to various experimental “no-grades” schools, the data show consistently better engagement, creativity, mental health, and long-term success.
And still, the world clings to old measures, despite knowing the consequences.
🫸 Why Societal Fear Blocks Change
Too often, the world moves slowly because people are afraid of change, because they cling to the familiar. Big ideas, bold dreams, and radical imagination are held back – not by practicality, but by the smallness of perspective around them. So many great possibilities are stalled simply because others cannot see beyond their own measures and limitations.
As the saying goes: don’t let people with small minds convince you that your dreams are too big. Too often, we are asked to shrink, to moderate, to fit. And yet, the world needs visionaries – those willing to imagine, to create, to dream beyond what is currently accepted.
How many times have you encountered someone who told you, “That’s impossible”, or “That’s too ambitious”? How often do we internalize that, even momentarily, and limit ourselves before we’ve even begun? What if, instead, we allowed curiosity and imagination to lead, unafraid of societal measures or judgments?
🌈 Dream Beyond Limits, Act Beyond Fear
History is full of people who changed the world, not by staying within the familiar boundaries, but by pushing them, challenging the “impossible,” and daring to step beyond comfort zones.
Nearly every major scientific discovery, every transformative social movement, every leap in human understanding required individuals to ignore the limitations imposed by others, to question what was accepted, and to trust their own vision – even when it seemed absurd.
True progress depends on those willing to dream beyond limits, to experiment, to risk failure, and to imagine what others cannot yet see. The message is clear: if you want to make a real impact, comfort and convention are your enemies; courage, imagination, and persistence are your allies.
❤️ Heart and Action: Moving Beyond Measurement
It’s not enough to notice the system’s flaws – we need to act within and around them. Support your own curiosity. Encourage others. Celebrate uniqueness. Question rigid rules without shame. Recognize that measurements are not your measure.
Ask yourself:
When was the last time someone told me, “That’s impossible”, and I let it shape my choices?
How can I support the dreams of others, even when they feel too big, too bold, too different?
Where can I create spaces for play, exploration, and curiosity that honor individuality, rather than enforce conformity?
How often have I compared myself to others, and what would happen if I honored my own pace, my own journey, my own value?
Our society may cling to measures, but our spirit, our creativity, our curiosity, and our joy are infinite. It’s time to reclaim them. Dream boldly. Ask questions. Make room for imagination. Celebrate what makes you – and everyone around you – unique.
Remember: systems, measures, and comparisons are tools, not truths. They are not your worth. You are not a number. You are not a grade.
You are a being capable of wonder, growth, and transformation – capable of greatness beyond measure.
❤️💛💚
Yours and mine,
I & I 🦁
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