What you don't learn: the most important knowledge schools never teach

Looking back on my school years, I learned many things that I never used in the rest of my life. On the other hand, I've often searched for knowledge I wish I had learned in school. The most important question isn't what we learn in school—it's what we don't learn. And here's the troubling truth: we don't even know what we're missing.

The invisible gap in our education

In short, at school you learn what you can become, but not who you can be.

Much more important than what you've learned is actually what you haven't learned. That's naturally difficult to know, because what you haven't learned, you don't know. But you also don't know that you lack that knowledge. If you haven't learned something, you don't know of its existence. Research shows that this can go so far that you literally don't see or hear things you haven't learned about, even though they exist.

Learning how to be human

What I missed most in school is simply the fact that I didn't learn how I can and may be 'human.' Every day I have a choice of who I want to be, emotions to deal with, boundaries to guard, and energies of others to manage. Children become happy adults when they learn how to heal traumas and forgive. A family functions better if we learn in school how relationships work, what we can expect, and how we deal with different archetypes.

I can program my body and soul to be happy and healthy. If children learn this in school, they live longer and healthier lives. Teach children about chakras and acupressure points and they can learn to heal each other. Teach children about the healing power of herbs and stones and they won't need healthcare anymore. These are things that make a difference in lives daily. Why didn't I learn to deal with this in school?

Essential life skills we're never taught

For a healthy, loving society, it's also important to teach children about technology, working with nature, cooking, map reading and navigation, making clothing, dealing with money, dealing with the power of words, with their own energy, or Chinese medicine.

The irony is profound: we spend years learning facts we'll never use, while the knowledge that could transform our daily lives, our relationships, our health, and our happiness is completely absent from the curriculum.

The power of what we don't know

The dangerous thing about not learning something is that we don't just lack the knowledge—we become unable to even perceive it. Research shows this phenomenon clearly: when we haven't been taught to recognize something, we can literally fail to see or hear it, even when it's right in front of us. Our education creates blind spots in our perception of reality itself.

An invitation to stay curious

I want to ask you to remain curious in life and to ask yourself what you haven't yet learned about a subject. What is important? Is the knowledge you have correct? Also search for information about this subject from other cultures. Sometimes, even calculation methods differ per country.

The first step in reclaiming our full human potential is recognizing what we've been denied. The second step is seeking it out anyway—for ourselves and for our children.