“Obviously we won’t and shouldn’t return to the voluntary tortures of the Mandan.”

Nonsense. I went through years of voluntary torture. It was called grad school. Physicians have an even more extreme version, called “residency.”

Rebuild later, much later, with new people and away from the conflation of Barracks with Pedagogy, or, in short, no more schools. Schools are obsolete, and dies by being obscene.

No man it seems can gaze at rows of military age males without playing at Socrates/Caesar/Lenin. No woman can resist infantilizing or castrating them, both crop, cripple or destroy their human potential and at great cost.

The concept of handing one’s children to the state for most of their childhood to be formed into soldiers, farmers or workers is Prussian and was done to mobilize the State as one unit- so Prussia could survive and thrive. Had it been larger, had it not twice attacked both East and West it would have…and then, with peace and prosperity Prussia would be where America is now…asking why are still doing this in particular with the great harms being done the children, the parents, the nation.

Genug.

The advance of math maps the advance of civilization, but discouragement of math progress has been a thing at times. Middle Age scholars hid their results from rivals; the Church banned the study of infinitesimals; capable people not given positions. There were times of public accolade and interest. Today the study falls into the “uncool” category.