* * * * *
                                        
                           We don't need no education
                                        
> So Martin [the father] threw himself into it the way he had thrown himself
> into glassblowing, silversmithing, puzzlemaking, and filmmaking, among
> various other pursuits. He fired the nanny and came up with a plan: They
> would live on $5,000 a year. They would travel by bus, support themselves
> with craft shows and the proceeds of the “Erik & Dad Puzzle Co.,” and
> attempt to feed themselves on a budget of $1 per meal per person (a goal
> Martin admits sheepishly now they did not always achieve). Martin would
> work as little as possible. 
> 
> The father's educational theory went like this: Apart from one hour of home
> schooling a day, the child should pursue his own interests. They spent a
> few weeks at a commune in Tennessee, a year in Providence, six months in
> Chicago. During a three-year stint in Miami Beach, he sat Erik down with a
> neighbor to see if he was interested in learning Chinese; the language
> instruction went nowhere, but the neighbor had a computer. 
> 

Via Robot Wisdom, [1] Road scholar finds home at MIT [2] 

Not only is Erik 20 years old and an assistant professor at MIT
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) [3] but his speciality is in
computational origami [4] (and the link there is an article about Erik
solving the problem of why maps are so hard to fold) which isn't your
everyday ordinary discipline. 

I do notice though, that parents that have an interest in their childrens'
education often produce intelligent children, reguardless of formal education
(as this shows). 

[1] http://www.robotwisdom.com/
[2] http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/048/nation/Road_scholar_finds_home_at_MIT+.shtml
[3] http://www.mit.edu/
[4] http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-1.html

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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