Ever met someone who’s a walking, talking footnote from a government-funded textbook? I recently had a conversation with one — a dear friend, a product of the broken educational conveyor belt — and it felt like debating a robot programmed to say: “If it’s not peer-reviewed, it doesn’t exist.”

Here’s the problem:
Our education system isn’t broken because it fails to teach — it’s broken because it teaches people not to think. The bigger the beam of truth, the narrower their minds become. Just like the pupil of the eye, both the ignorant and the bigot shrink when exposed to light.

My friend? He dismissed life-saving questions about mainstream cancer treatments with a smug, “That’s not evidence-based.” Translation: If it’s not blessed by academia or blessed by pharma-funded journals, it’s heresy.

When I asked him about the books that shaped his thinking, he said — and I quote — “I don’t read books. I only read research papers.” That right there told me everything I needed to know.

Let’s be real:
🔹 He doesn’t want truth.
🔹 He wants validation.
🔹 He doesn’t seek wisdom.
🔹 He seeks permission.

He called anyone who relies on books instead of “recent research” stupid. That’s not intelligence — that’s indoctrination with a PhD.

💡 Here’s the real test before you engage in any serious conversation:

1. What books changed their lives?
2. What thinkers shook their beliefs?
3. Do they quote sources — or recite sacred scripts from academia?
4. Do they have a philosophy — or just citations?

If their answers are hollow, robotic, or soaked in academic arrogance, don’t waste your light on eyes that choose to stay shut. Not everyone wants to see.

The Solution?
To my friend and millions like him:
Start reading outside the institution. Read rebels. Read thinkers. Read the books that were banned, questioned, ridiculed. Learn to think — not just agree.

Because obedience is not intelligence — and parroting isn’t wisdom.

🧠 Dare to defy.
📚 Read beyond the curriculum.
🔥 Think beyond the algorithm.

Good luck in your life, my friend.
— W.S.