Notices by Raghav Agrawal (impactology@mastodon.social)

"Being wrong is unpleasant. Many people cannot tolerate STEM classes for that reason. Postmodernism to the rescue! Nothing is absolutely true; therefore nothing is absolutely false. And so, in postmodernity, you can get a PhD in English, or sociology, or political science, without having ever had the experience of being wrong in your professional field. And so, you can be an expert—or a member of the ruling class—without knowing what it means to give a correct answer"

"Essence of rationality is that you can be wrong. Unambiguously, unarguably, irrefutably, utterly wrong. Without that: no rationality, no systematicity, no modern world. STEM classes give you the felt experience of being wrong may times per day. It is only when that sinks in your bones that you can know what it means to do something correctly. “Doing it correctly” is systematic rationality, which is what keeps airplanes in the air & electric lights on" - David Chapman

https://meaningness.substack.com/p/ofermod

If you were a founder looking to hire brilliant folks, especially with an unconventional background (ofc brilliant first, unconventional second since you run a business) or a senior person in position of hiring with the same priority where would you scout for folks, where would you hang out?

Think about this, how would a founder or senior designer/developer without a degree be looking for brilliant folks to hire

@skinnylatte interesting approach

How has it worked out for you so far? Does the leaning stick?

Is there a language learning app that teaches learners to transcreate rather than just translate?

translation (word to word literal translation) vs transcreation (recreating meaning with equivalent imagery, tone and tone)

Helping them understand cultural context, emotional impact while learning to translate?

Real-world-aligned assessments would reveal:

on-the-job learning ability
adaptability
decision-making under uncertainty
collaborative competence
judgment
system thinking

…and these are not correlated with socioeconomic privilege in the same way exam performance is.

Exams persist because they preserve the existing power structure.

Memorization based exams require reading like an industrial machine:

detect keywords

compress into bullets

ignore nuance

discard 80%

memorize 20%

regurgitate

Nobody memorizes entire books to create.

We scaffold.
We reference.
We check.
We improvise.
We remix.
We integrate.
We forget and relearn.
We rely on tools, memory aids, artifacts, external cognition.

Memorization is the least important skill in the world of real work.

How you construct arguments

How you evaluate sources

How you revise beliefs

A far more valid alternative would be: “Epistemic Fluency Assessments”

These would test:

How you learn, not what you know

How you navigate ambiguity

How you justify reasoning

How you compare alternatives

How you translate ideas into action

How you collaborate

How you reflect

How you build

How you form coherent mental models

This is the thinking people actually use in adulthood, and it generalizes across all fields.

Exams test memory of content because systems are optimized for ranking individuals, not understanding their cognitive processes.

Actual work tests skillful navigation of reality.

The edu system knows:

You will forget, that forgetting curve is real, that declarative information decays without use and that job skills require only a tiny subset of knowledge

Yet we still run exams because they’re legible, “objective”, scalable, cheap.

Why not design assessments that match the fidelity of real adult thinking?

Because the moment you do that, the entire prestige hierarchy collapses.

Elite universities lose their advantage.
Coaching centers become useless.

Degrees stop meaning the same thing.
Recruiters lose their easy filters.

The entire credential economy destabilizes.

What purpose do theory-heavy, memory-based exams serve?

Functionally:

Distributing prestige

Rank large populations cheaply

Provide a veneer of meritocracy

Maintain credential inflation

Allow institutions to claim objectivity

Exams are optimized for mass sorting at scale, not for developing mindsets or reasoning habits.

One thought just occured to me, our generation (millenials) and maybe to some extent even genz might be the last to have an experience of what good taste purely via human judgement and craft actually looks and feels like.

The generation after that won't even know what good is, because they will grow up on ai slop

Work & Livelihood

You can find meaningful, decently paid work without insider access. Skill learning and job transitions feel achievable. You’re not terrified of falling behind if you take a break or get sick.

Welfare outcome: Economic security + skill mobility. “My effort changes my situation” becomes true for most people.

Food and Nutrition

Grocery prices are stable; nutritious food is nearby.

You can cook or eat without debt or dependence. Children’s meals are not skipped for budget reasons.

Welfare outcome: Adequate calories + nutrition as a background condition of life, not a luxury.

Housing

Housing stability, predictable living costs, environmental safety.

The feeling of “I can plan tomorrow because today is secure.”

You wake up without worrying about eviction, leaks, or power cuts. Rent, repairs, and energy costs are predictable. If something breaks, help is accessible and affordable.

Environmental Touchpoints

Air, water, and noise are tolerable.

Public transport is reliable; walking feels safe. Energy systems don’t punish the poor for living.

Welfare outcome: Dignified coexistence with the environment, not survival despite it.

Civic & Social Belonging

You can voice a complaint or idea without fear or humiliation. Public spaces are safe, clean, and co-owned.

Institutions respond transparently and predictably.

Welfare outcome: Trust loops between citizen and system.