The Trap of Validation – Why the "6" Doesn't Define the Genius

We have turned our schools into sorting machines rather than centers of growth. If you passed, you have passed. Why must we attach a number that validates your memory while ignoring your potential?

Grading: A Snapshot of Memory, Not Mind

In our current system, we receive a point — a 6, an 8, a 10. We are told this is a measure of our intelligence. From an anthropological perspective, this is a fallacy. This “validation” has little to do with how intelligent a person truly is.

• The “idiot” with a memory: A person can lack critical thinking but possess a stellar short‑term memory, scoring high marks by simply regurgitating data.
• The genius with no interest: A genuine visionary might have no liking for a specific school subject and “fail” the external validation test, despite possessing a mind capable of changing the world.

What we call “intelligence” in school is often just the ability to store and return information on command. It measures obedience to a format, not the depth of a mind.

💡 FACT: Education research has shown that traditional grades tend to reflect short‑term recall and test‑taking skills more than long‑term understanding, creativity, or real‑world problem solving. High grades predict compliance with the system more reliably than original thinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YeZm1VanQU

The Problem with Public Ranking

I move for the removal of public numerical rankings. If you have met the criteria to pass, you should receive your diploma. Period. Why must your life be stamped with a 6, 7, or 8 as if that number were your spiritual barcode?

What makes a 6 “worse” than an 8 in real life? Does the 8 make you more capable of empathy, innovation, or leadership? No. It simply opens or closes doors based on a snapshot of your ability to memorize at a specific moment in time.

We rank children publicly and permanently according to their performance on a narrow type of task, then pretend these numbers represent their worth, their future, their place in society. That is not measurement; it is branding.

The Athletic Paradox and the Lost Biologist

We see this gatekeeping most clearly in universities. An athlete who generates publicity and wins games is often supported through the system due to their athletic value. The institution bends for the sake of entertainment and revenue.

Meanwhile, a student with less athletic ability but the potential to be the future biologist who invents a cure for glaucoma might be denied entry because they didn’t “memorize” enough to get an 8 instead of a 6. The doors close, not because the mind is empty, but because the grading ritual was not properly obeyed.

We are prioritizing the entertainment value of the moment over the long‑term survival and advancement of our species. When we focus on the external “point,” we silence the internal voice that drives true discovery.

💡 FACT: Multiple‑intelligence and creativity research consistently shows a weak correlation between standardized test scores and later creative or entrepreneurial achievement. Many breakthrough thinkers were average or poor students by conventional grading standards.

Final Thought: From Mimicry to Being

Until we stop validating students based on their ability to mimic and start validating them based on their ability to be, we will continue to lose the geniuses of tomorrow to the grading rubrics of today. We will keep rewarding the “idiot with a memory” and overlooking the quiet, disinterested genius who doesn’t care about playing the game of points.

If you passed, you passed. The real question is not whether you achieved an 8 or a 10. The real question is: Who are you becoming? Numbers cannot answer that. Only your life can.