Why Ray Bradbury Didn't Think Writers Should Go to College
The renowned American author Ray Bradbury was famously known for his dislike of colleges. He felt that the traditional education system was too rigid and stifling for creative minds. He believed that university students were not encouraged to think independently and explore their own ideas.
He also felt that college professors did not provide enough guidance or feedback to help students develop their creativity. As a result, he saw college as a place where creativity was stifled and discouraged rather than nurtured and inspired.
In a recent clip on Twitter that went viral, the Fahrenheit 451 author explained that writers in particular should avoid universities, saying at one point “the intellect is a great danger to creativity.”
The response seems to shock the interviewer, prompting Bradbury to elaborate.
“A terrible danger, because you begin to rationalize and make up reasons for things instead of staying with your own basic truth: who you are, what you are, what you want to be,” Bradbury says. “I’ve had a sign over my typewriter for 25 years now which reads: don’t think. You must never think at the typewriter, you must feel. Your intellect is always buried in that feeling anyway.”
Unlike Bradbury, I went to college. I enjoyed my time there and wouldn’t change my experience.
Nevertheless, I think Bradbury is correct about the dangers universities pose to creators and free-thinking individuals. For far too long college, has been treated as something people must do to be successful or accomplished or complete.
I think this vision is a mistake. What do you think?
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