Letter to self from 2032: Let Them Play.

Dear Younger Self,
You have been doing great, I am proud of you. Thanks for bringing the focus back in 2021. The year that was, was almost a turning point.

The playground is yours, you can be the coach, you were looking for. You can be the spectator, the player, the opponent and the referee.. anything you wish for. The game doesn’t have many rules, the only rule is you have got to be curious enough and keep playing.

There will be all the kinds of situations, that you can imagine and can’t. Don’t care about what can happen and what cannot like two extreme cases. There will be millions of possibilities in parallel universes aka meta verses but physically you’ll always be in only one and that’s the most important one.

Although that all doesn’t mean, it’s going to be an easy ride but easy/difficult won’t matter. It’s really going to be fun.

Btw, you’ve been able to build that AI friend for your then newborn sweetheart and millions like hers. It is now able to teach kids how to learn, play, talk, tell stories, love, care, empathize and innovate.

Specifically, learning how to learn. They are able to innovate like humanity could never ever dream of. Within a year OR two, there were tools that kids could speak to, in any language and draw. The phones have evolved and the voice is the new interface. So children and curious ones like yourself could build their wild imaginations. The minds were set free and those divine humans got the peace of mind to think out loud that changed the course of humanity.

5 years down the line, They just narrated the stories with emotions and that created movies automatically. Govts has given the go-ahead to use AI Avtars or you can say characters as virtual teachers that were configurable as per the parent’s expectations, also:

Talks to them, asks questions & gives answers.
Analyzes behaviour and takes action.
Configurable and customizable
Take any shape or change colour.

Let the experiments explode, run your wildest imaginations. Remember the 2012 Hari? He was able to make some things from scratch, 3 times, and survived for almost 3.5yrs but stupid, used to quit too soon.

You are well equipped now. It might take a couple of years to switch the engine ON but keep cultivating that curiosity and keep sowing the seeds. When you get to that engine, put on the right track, then it’s all yours. Think fast and slow and start with why. No need to care about Existentialism anymore. There are quiet bright minds out there waiting to be told what to do.

Your grandpa has taught you the value of principles, punctuality, and planning. Your father had ingrained experimentation in your veins very well. You’ve not got the gist of it all yet but everything is right there, in the hindsight. That’s why #Analysis of the big picture is important. I am not saying, you know everything about analysis but what you know is enough to get started and lead.

Note that people are complex, and Technology is easy. Now is the time, you start putting emotional personas in the system. Build for people, not the users. Your theories of asking the right questions have been very helpful to me. Continue that habit of writing, analysing and repeatedly connecting the dots and having fun.

The puzzles you have been playing in the last decade have made a nice base that you will be able to take things and keep changing your perspective until you understand them and keep going deeper.

Keep asking questions. Some of the questions were never asked with the right conviction. Eventually, you will reach the right questions. Nothing Else Matterz. One thing/dot at a time. Connecting the dots is as important as disconnecting the dots while solving the #puzzle, right?

There can be many ways of learning the same thing, for each child the methods need to be customized, analyzed and improvised. Some may be able to read and learn better. Some may be able to write and learn. Others may be more inclined towards doing and learning.. But most would love to play & learn 🙂

That’s why the best use of technology is important today. Also because:

1. The number of teachers to number of students ratio is too bad.

2. More than the opportunity, it’s a responsibility.

You are the mother to the whole world & you have unlimited responsibility.

Technology can enable & convert every parent into a potential teacher. Technology can enable teachers to be great at what they love to do. Platforms like LEADSchool will transform the society. Solutions don’t have to look like an interface. Teachers & parents are the interface. They need to be empowered.

10yrs down the line, your dream of democratizing education is clearly solvable. Hence the world’s biggest problem seems to be minute. After all, it’s all about intent. That’s why the depth of understanding the basics of everything you teach the kids is very important and urgent. Also, not all parents have the same level of expectations.

So regardless of whether you have to work for money or not, choose ed tech. Money is a byproduct of the value you bring in. I hope that was a good enough memo. Work backwards from here:

Explore what exists today.
Research its ifs, hows, whats and whys
Analyze with reason, theories, philosophies, possibilities
Break that down into smaller goals, and prototypes.
Create a detailed plan and just do the frugal documenting.
Validate the plan with stakeholders, execute, and iterate.
Finally, define and measure progress.

BUT You’ve not done it all before. you would need a lot of help. You may not be good at all the things required to be done so try to ask the right questions. Use what you have, and do what you can.