There is a theory that art began after humans began to cook. Chewing raw meat is a time-consuming activity. So time-consuming that it would take nearly an entire day to find meat, and eat it.
Humans started to evolve and developed both tools and the ability to control fire. These novelties were combined to help humans cut and cook meat. This reduced the chewing time of an average human from 6 hours a day to about 30 minutes.
What do humans do with all of this free time? It turns out, they become artistic. They paint on walls, develop dyes, and theorize about civilizations. No longer are they constrained to surviving. Now they can thrive.
In an era that predicated on knowledge being at our fingertips – I feel this story about our history is extremely relevant. If we can access all knowledge at any point – why are we wasting 21 years in school? Couldn’t we be doing something better than multiplication tables and physics exams? Couldn’t we be solving gun violence and figuring out other ways to thrive as a civilization?
21+ years is a ton of time to waste chewing on something of little value.