School System Failed Us! – How “C” Students Are More Successful Than “A” Students | Eric Weinstein
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Welcome back to Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu. In today’s riveting clip, I’m joined by the dynamic thinker Eric Weinstein, who delves into a deeply personal and illuminating discussion about the failings of the traditional education system. Eric shares his experience of grappling with learning disabilities and how these challenges fueled his relentless pursuit of success. He highlights the untapped potential of students often labeled as underachievers and makes a compelling case for rethinking how we approach education. From the revolutionary impact of music in his life to battling against an education system that often labels brilliance as failure, Eric’s journey is a powerful testament to resilience and innovation.
Get ready to be inspired by Eric’s unyielding spirit, enlightening perspectives, and his mission to transform the way we view and nurture learning differences. Don’t miss out on this thought-provoking conversation that challenges the status quo and champions the idea that even perceived “failures” can achieve extraordinary success. Join us as we dive deep into the world of unconventional learning and the power of perseverance.
00:00 Cinderella story, struggle against educational injustice.
05:15 Disagreement over music teaching methods creates tension.
08:17 Bay Area resources for dyslexic kids.
10:34 Blues music opened creative possibilities through formula.
13:33 Programming a computer is like spying on users.
17:49 Struggle with learning disability’s impact on education.
21:50 Color and disability can offer advantages.
23:04 Recognizing diverse learning experiences and thinking outside.
Learning disabilities, confidence, translation error, handwriting issues, executive functioning issues, educational system, American education, skipping grades, poetry grading, memory, educational struggle, music learning difficulties, math learning difficulties, educational abuse, high school experience, college drop out, language learning, French learning challenges, Indonesian language, brute force memorization, system challenge, higher education, academic determination, Harvard mathematics, student competitions, educational inequities, alternative education, educators’ role, learning disabled students, neurotypical students.
@SovereignCanada
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I'm dyslexic and have tried to learn French my whole life. It would be more achievable to win the Boston Marathon at the age of 52 than be remotely fluent in French or any language
@gam3garage
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
This interviewer makes me squirm a little.
@susansusan8046
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
When in high school when taking tests I was so stressed I could barely spell my name. English was my second language and I struggled. I was treated and felt dumb. As an adult I took a few college classes and got on the deans list, i started an successful international company. I'm proud of my can do attitude but at 77 still feel inferior because I didn't get a college education.
@madhatter1662
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
What I am getting from this is that children need to be evaluated on an individual level and provided a tailored education that plays to their strengths while challenging their weaknesses. That by brute forcing a cookie cutter education on all children uniformly, the education system is failing society by ignoring the talents of individuals for the sake of a proscribed and procedural methodology.
@peggylivermore2613
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Tom. When you use bad language it interrupts some of your listens thought process.
@janicedobis6490
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
As a student that struggled with info retrieval for tests, but sponged-up everything that was taught, this is relatable. I became an educator more as a defiant position to each of the horrible teachers I ever had. Being in the āsystemā I see for myself how bad it works. I work with some amazing people who struggle in the space between laws, policies, curriculums, tests, and the actual reality of children. I also work with teachers who see the kids as the problem. As humans we all have egos/bias that get challenged by personalities that oppose our egos and bias beliefs. The students that ask too many questions, struggle in some way that inconveniences the class or teacher, is done first or last, etc, is too often doomed. We donāt work with preservice teachers at all on this issue. The testing in insane and really tells us nothing about creativity, resilience, and real life problem solving. The curriculum is burdensome but with very little sincere depth-like a buffet where you have to sample everything, and from that tiny spoonful know everything there is to know about the item. And the policies are written by policy makers who seem to have zero understanding of child psyc and development as well as how learning actually occurs. Basically. I donāt know who is responsible for our system, but it is beyond fixable. It truly needs to be re-designed.
@jillgaglione3555
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
My son has a severe learning disability language basedā¦he has started learning the violin via the Suzuki method and is doing amazingā¦it brings me so much joy that he is learning something without struggling !!!! Thank you for saying all of this!!!
@VickyGRUENBLAT
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I love him. My son Philip wanted to play the violin, but a teacher turned him off. Something else could work better. "Incaluable harm." That's an understatement. I could do music either. But music has something in the brain thats importsnt.
@kricketflyd111
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Terrance tried introducing him to a eternal concept but Erick would not listen because its new to him.
@hollygolightly8048
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Stop dropping the āFā bomb. It dilutes your point.
@pj9591
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Hello Eric
I am sorry you had so many problems with learning French. I am French and I have never heard that everything was gender in French, in France. We do not think that āune porte is feminine and un sac est masculin.
The French language must sound nice to the ear, and the orthograph must be arranged according to sound. Furthermore, if you make a mistake using le, la, or any article that does convey feminine or masculine connotations, people, still will understand what you are saying.
Not like the English language with its 65 ways (I believe) and meanings of up or down, if not used properly nobody understands what you are saying. I still have difficulty with those little words in English.
Whatever learning difficulties you had, I would not mind being as intelligent as you are.
@jandroid1962
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Consider this – 1. Many teachers are excellent and caring and effective. 2 – Most teachers arenāt that great at their jobs. 3 – Many teachers are low key emotionally/verbally abusive.
If I were raising a child today theyād be homeschooled. And weād be having fun and weād both be learning.
@tomconrad7091
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Thank you fellow Loser! My story is quite similar of anger and hate. I am in the top 1 percent of wealth with four children and 8 grandchildren. People donāt understand why I am so compassionate to losers, those who were eaten by the system.
@SuagrWaffers
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
If teachers have leeway to give As to students who didnt complete assignments correctly, but have glimpses of brillance, every deviant and truant student will pass with flying colors.
@CuriouslyGeorge
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
No B.S., Eric spoke to my soul. Literally everything he said described my K-12 experience. I retired from a career in the military and went to college. Everything changed once I got away from "teachers." Eric did an exceptional job articulating the feelings and emotions I felt and feel about kids growing up today. Now I'm feeling like I need to develop my relationship with music, an unrealized talent (maybe), but a new goal nonetheless.
@trooper738-m6h
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
"C" students run the world…
@vernonshoaf
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I wished there were no F bombs in this type of rich conversations.
@LordMalice6d9
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I was mostly a C student in school. But my severe ADD and aspergers negatively effected my grades even though I was a deep thinker.
@Baczkowa78
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
There are good schools and teachers. There are parents who neglect their children, but they should be the first educators.
@Alan-lv9rw
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I have a bachelorās degree and a masterās degree, both from elite schools. I had a very solid (although unspectacular) career in business. A guy I knew in high school dropped out of college twice (he struggled academically). Then he became a general contractor and did extremely well. A high IQ does not guarantee success and a mediocre IQ does not guarantee failure.
@travelermike8541
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I have a BS and MS with mixed experiences in school. I believe teachers mistake their mission. They are instructors and should follow the motto to do no harm. With an education degree they are not qualified to judge the arc of a young persons life or to mold young minds. Fact is, that rowdy boy will be the man you call to fix your plumbing or AC some day.
@pattymcmullen8551
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
How does the f word help this interview…at all. Poor command of the English language I'd say
@booksteer7057
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I was a straight A student who stupidly thought that my academic success would transfer into worldly success. I graduated from a very prestigious, private college. I had a degree but very little work experience. So when I tried to enter the workforce, I got the big "So what?" If I had not been forced to do volunteer work in high school, I would've had almost no work experience. I think every job I've ever had, except for being a telemarketer, can trace its roots back to the volunteering I did in high school.
@julieb7785
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Exemplary man, EW. His brother too.
@slappy8941
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
The system is designed to fail.
@timreyes2179
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Ah, eric tells his full origin story š
@eringilles4024
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Stop saying fuck . It drops your intelligence with me even if you could be intelligent
@carolheinzig666
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
Eric is sooo brilliant
I have an engineer, just graduated from university, and an empathetic child(he told us he was empathetic in 8th grade with comment that he did not want to be pathetic)
Both had such different learning needs.
My empathetic is in 4th year at university in a stem economics program. He was the most work as a parent in trying to help him understand himself (both of us are engineers) and getting him through the broken educational system that wanted to fail him which would have changed his perception of himself and having confidence in himself.
My husband and my first goal was to build skill and confidence in the heart of our children starting at age 4.
@barbloft
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
We need Eric to overhaul our graveyard of an education system.
@zalllon
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I was fortunate enough to be born in 1970, where toys were board games, backgammon, chess, puzzles, mechano sets, and a microscope. The types of things we played with took time to complete even when we played outside. There were so many things we did as play that required so much time to figure out. As Iāve had teams of analysts and had to hire, and more specifically, interview young folks ā¦ I have seen a lot of MBA grads do well on logic, but struggle to apply it during an interview, and get beat out by those with college diplomas (Canada) or international students. And then there are those who are only high school diploma grads who have had 5+ yrs in the workforce, and a lot of them crush it. I design my interview tests to be unlikely to finish all the questions, and go in early at the end ā¦ as I want to see who asks for more time. Very few ask for that, none of the MBAs have ever asked for more time, they just stop as soon as they see me. Initially I was blown away by this, now Iād be surprised if they did ask for more time. Iām not looking for people to punch out at 4:55 pm when there is a problem at the table.
@therocinante3443
August 5, 2025 at 5:51 am
I'll never forget being smarter than many of my teachers yet struggling with even getting Cs
Comments are closed.