There are more options than ever for life. New careers, new ways to get there, new lifestyles, new questions on balance with family, friends, hobbies, health and work.
Life is undeniable more complex. Is there any surprise we have a crisis of anxiety and mental health? That workplace satisfaction is at an all time low? That even people achieving at levels uncontemplated in previous generations, feel discontent?
In the past, meaning was found more easily. There were fewer options and less awareness of those options; less social, economic and geographic mobility; and greater national, community or family needs to meet. The consequence was often greater satisfaction.
Many beautiful souls are working their hardest to make this problem worse. We want every single human to have the ability to choose the life they want to lead. To not face financial, cultural, or any other constraint. To not face discrimination, prejudice, or artificial barriers to their mobility. To receive the education and grounding they need to succeed.
But what are we to do about this? Hold back progress? Eliminate technology? Keep some people on the outside, unable to access certain options in life?
Absolutely not.
Every human deserves their own choice.
So then we must accept that this problem will get worse.
Life will get more complex for more people. The mastery required to navigate life well will increase in parallel.
And instead, we must build tools that help improve opportunity and mobility for humans, while simultaneously providing the support needed to manage this complexity. Being mindful that we’re not solving for more for the sake of more, but the unique contentedness possible for every human that is well equipped to see and follow a path in life that feels right to them.
In some cases, this will require focused learning to tackle a new opportunity. Other times, it will require exploration of related ideas to improve navigation on the path. And some times it will require self-reflection to find the middle way between inertia and grass is greener.
In every case, it requires complete personalisation.
This is was well understood throughout history. In-depth, 1:1 learning was standard for privileged families across cultures and time. These tutors, teachers and mentors provided far more than knowledge. They sought to draw out deeper understanding, provoke insight into its application in the students life, and coach the mindset or soft skills needed to make healthy steps forward.
In the 80s, Benjamin Bloom showed that “the average tutored student was above 98% of the students in the control class". An effect called the Two Sigma Problem, because 1:1 instruction was shown to be so extremely effective it was a problem to equity.
But what if we could scale 1:1 instruction?
What if we could design a new type of learning platform? One that integrated the transformative qualities of great teachers into scalable, personalized, 1:1 learning experience?
What if we could redefine modern education, away from linear learning pathways and group instruction - but instead personalised both path-finding and instruction. That scaled inspiration and self-awareness, not just world-class instruction? Just like the mentors of old that nurtured the giant luminaries of history.
This is our mission.
We are addressing education's gaps with Self Design, an AI-driven Socratic learning platform. We're integrating the transformative qualities of great teachers into scalable, personalized, 1:1 learning experiences.
It is a dream we have cultivated for over a decade, and we believe that technology has finally made this problem possible to solve at scale.
We believe that every human deserves the best possible education at all stages of their life. Everyone needs a high quality mentor to discuss, explore, learn, and grow with.
We believe that education at all levels needs to be reimagined. In-person education has a long list of well known problems. Online education improves distribution but is still fundamentally a linear sequence of knowledge. Universities are not equipping youth with relevant skills. Adults in career transition have little support. Enthusiasts must be extremely self-motivated and bend existing tooling to their learning goals.
We believe that scaling a truly great 1:1 mentor has the potential to upend all of this. Not just be more efficient in teaching, but help people be inspired, find their path, overcome their challenges, find contentment, and ultimately succeed in creating the life they desire.
Nothing new really, just what amazing tutors, teachers, and mentors have done for eons.
Redefine how you learn - discover, master, design yourself, shape your future.