Thinking not allowed

Justine Nicholas in "What do you think?" writes:

[N]early every one of us encounters a situation – whether in our careers or personal lives – that calls for an answer or solution we’ve never before seen or heard. Or there may not be anyone who can guide us through those crises and conundrums. [...] A person’s ability to navigate such treacherous currents is entirely dependent on his or her ability to think independently and to trust what he or she thinks. Disturbingly, this is exactly what most schooling discourages.

That's what schooling does today: No thinking allowed. You must be quiet, sit still and answer in turn. You must take and pass the tests. You will learn to follow meekly and you WILL obey!

That's why I'm so much against schooling, testing and even degrees: they discourage independence while demanding blind obedience. At school, you can't hop around reciting a memorized text, as my sons are apt to do. With school, you can't spend 6 or 10 hours, say, writing a computer game, as schooling plus homework would leave no time for such concentrated free activity ("self direct study" is what we call it in our household).