TTT 13 | Cowboy College
Triple Threat Thursday. Photos, story, music.
“The opposite of education is not ignorance; it is education in social science.”
Nassim Taleb
Greetings from the airport in Missoula, Montana. I didn’t know much about Missoula before coming here for three days. I’m pleasantly surprised how much this growing city has to offer in terms of food, people, shops and outside activities.
I was in the wilderness for 6 days with Jordan Jonas, Cade Coal and other incredible folks. Jordan shot a rattlesnake and we ate it. In the final two days, we lived primarily on fish that we caught and cooked on hot coals, or in rattlesnake fat.
Things happened that I’m still processing. I’ll include it in my first book. The manuscript is hurling toward completion. Paid subscribers will receive a copy of the book shipped to their house.
1 - Photos
2 - Story
In the wilderness, carving a spoon, making a chessboard, building fires and traps, bushcrafting fly fishing rods, lines and lures, and talking with my co-creators.
“College should be this the whole time,” I said.
A few days later I’m back in Missoula, at my Airbnb in the University district.
Human knowledge creation happens like this: observation, question, hypothesis, experiment, conclusion.Do college environments cultivate this process? Does walking around with AirPods, completing government sanctioned assignments reinforce the process of knowledge creation?
The college experience dishes up contrived comfort. Flailing in the “real world” is what’s left after the contrived college environment disappears. I was right to stop college one credit shy of a diploma. I was also right to finish it up with an online calligraphy class to appease my parents' panic.
I still have a couple friends from college. We’re now on such different paths that it surprises me that we sporadically communicate and link up more than zero times a year.
I’m watching the freshmen move in. There’s always excitement in joining a new community with easy-bake friendships and prepaid employees to help you at every turn. 60% of faces are 18 - 21 year old females. That’s what the remaining young males still doing this for. Unfortunately for me, I don’t mate well in captivity.
The kids are wearing “free” school t-shirts, that say courageous, creative collective. This is not that.
I can see the administrators, all dressed up, at an overpriced $5,000 conference table brainstorming marketing words.
“Yeah, Collective, that sounds nice.”
Courageous
Creative
Collective
That’s what they want it to be, as they walk backward in the opposite direction.
If the authorities write it on the not-so-free t-shirts, then it’s not that. Whatever the authorities write, trust me, it’s not that.
It’s not a courageous, creative collective. See for yourself.
College is king of the scams. College makes Vegas look like a good deal.
The college experience stands in stark contrast to my last five days living in the wilderness, ironically, in a courageous, creative, collective.
There is much energy when I write that.
Living, moving, crafting, killing, cooking, loving, building and co-creating in a primal habitat. Raw and rugged lessons, with real downside from failures or mistakes. Slips, cuts, illness, hunger, sweat, smiles, connection and freedom. Full freedom. Nature doesn’t lie.
It’s incredible that the universe dished up this clear cut dichotomy for me to laugh at. I love it.
Cade is a cowboy horse packer. Of his own accord, Cade bushcrafted a bow and arrow with a Leatherman Wave multitool and some paracord. The arrow took about 45 minutes, and the bow was functional in under an hour. This is not a routine, there’s no instructions or teacher. He mounted his horse with his fresh weapon and shot at a target. He missed the target but won the game, the knowledge creation game.
The next day he horse-packed our gear back to the airstrip, where he shot, cooked and ate a grouse.
We caught up and found him napping.
How many of these college kids know what a grouse is?
If schooling was a courageous creative collective then they wouldn’t have to write it the t-shirts.
I couldn’t find anything courageous about paying thirty thousand dollars for automaton training.
Courage would be attending classes shirtless without paying tuition. In this world, no one can stop you, as long as you say that you’re a trout who identifies as a salmon.
I’ll run the experiment and report back.
I climbed the mountain behind the school, and found an old copper mine.
The sign on the right says “Montana’s greatest treasure” to inform us that it’s not that.
The sign on the building says “College of Indoctrination.”
Soaked in moralism.
The college campus is as contrived as it gets. The crown jewel trap of the industrial machine.
I’m watching kids get dropped off for voluntary indoctrination camp, whose purpose is to chain them to childhood for life. Nefarious, overvalued programming. An unproductive bloated complex of virtue signaling jargon talkers.
Dripping in moralism, caked in racketeering. Bait with prestige, switch with moralism.
Socialization, weakness, liars, hierarchies, trickery, distraction, untruth… and, worst of all: women with bangs.
Educators educating educators on education.
I see clothes that don’t fit. Clothes littered with text. The flag of the gays is on display.
People who identify as confused are welcome here.
It’s a deep cave for a deep slumber.
My failed indoctrination campaign looked like me walking out of countless classrooms mid-lecture.
Prescriptions, how-to’s, instructions, commands, advice, self-help, assignments and multiple-choice anything, are the sweet treats of the meme world. Empty calories.
I’ll go for the grouse.
I’ll take the courageous, creative collective, instead of the thirty thousand dollar t-shirt with the text on it.
3 - Music
I love Sturgill Simpson; he’s one of my favorite artists. Hard to believe “When it Comes to You” slipped under my radar for year.
Set me free, sign my release
My favorite version of Layla, Live in 1973. Eric Clapton and the Palpatations.
This song bubbled up the other day…
Thanks for reading!
I’m focused on creating truthful, authentic and useful media. The result is comedic stories and insights.
I co-host the Weird and Worthwhile podcast on Spotify and YouTube. I’m writing a book.
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