What we covered:

-- How bureaucracies instinctively reject new ideas like an immune system attacking a foreign organ, and what it takes to keep your project from being "spit out." Concrete example: how Jason & Sandy muscled past institutional resistance to get 8th graders passing AP Calc BC.

-- Every system inevitably decays into mediocrity unless someone fights to keep the standards high. The way you keep people, systems, and projects moving is by "horsing" them forward. Concrete example: how Justin kept 8th graders passing AP Calc BC, and what it looks like when a school succumbs to the gravity of mediocrity.

-- Justin's math self-study journey in high school: grinding math like a video game, running a secret self-study op inside traditional classes, taking talent development seriously while simultaneously hitting his head on every ledge and making every rookie mistake. Ups and downs, lessons learned, with tons of concrete examples.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro: Willing Things Into Existence

00:11:43 - How Jason & Sandy Willed Math Academy Into Existence

00:36:45 - Fighting The Gravity of Mediocrity

01:02:29 - Case Studies in Educational Dysfunction

01:21:53 - The Birth of Justin’s Self-Study Madness

01:50:48 - Self-Studying on the Sly During School

02:02:41 - The Highs & Lows of High School Research

02:22:38 - Outro: Paving the Path with Math Academy

Follow on X:

Math Academy - https://x.com/_MathAcademy_

Justin Skycak - https://x.com/justinskycak

Jason Roberts - https://x.com/exojason