🐴 Why learning should look like failing

Seth Godin reveals why mistakes are essential to real learning. PLUS: The startling math about how little time you have with your kids, and turning family photos into Studio Ghibli art.

March 26, 2025

3 Quick Bites:

🍎 Why "serial incompetence" is the fastest path to mastery
🍎 The startling calculation that's changing how parents value time
🍎 How to turn any family photo into magical Studio Ghibli art

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💡 THOUGHT

EDUCATION VS. LEARNING

"Learning is serial incompetence on our way to getting better."

— Seth Godin (Marketing wizard)

Education systems often focus on compliance and memorization. But real learning is trying, failing, adjusting, and trying again until the struggle leads to mastery.

Embracing "serial incompetence" means seeing mistakes as essential stepping stones rather than something to be avoided.

You can read about swimming forever, but you’ll never learn to swim until we get wet. The reading is preparation; the failing is learning.

What's one way you've seen learning through failure work in your family? Share with us on Instagram or Facebook.

📊 TREND

CHILDHOOD: SHORTER THAN YOU THINK

Sahil Bloom shares a startling calculation in his book "The Five Types of Wealth" that's hitting parents hard: by the time your child turns 18, you've already spent about 95% of all the time you'll ever spend with them.

There's no getting this time back. No do-overs. No extra credit.

Taking control of your child's learning environment isn't just about better education; it's also about reclaiming irreplaceable hours during the brief time when you are your child's entire world.

🔨 TOOL

GHIBLIFY ME!

Need a splash of whimsy in your family photos? ChatGPT's latest upgrade enables it to turn any picture into the magical style of Studio Ghibli animations (think dreamy, hand-drawn Japanese animation with a touch of fantasy).

People are having fun with it:

We couldn't resist trying it with Ed, our bespectacled horse mascot. Just upload a photo and ask ChatGPT (4o model) to "create image in the style of Studio Ghibli."

BEFORE GHIBLIFICATION

AFTER GHIBLIFICATION

WORD OF THE DAY

Ghiblification (jib-luh-fi-KAY-shun) - noun

The magical transformation of ordinary photos into whimsical Studio Ghibli-inspired art, causing subjects to look like they might start floating, befriend forest spirits, or live in a bathhouse for gods.

EXAMPLES: "Thanks to ghiblification, my LinkedIn headshot now suggests I might be the secret keeper of an ancient forest rather than someone who knows Excel."

Side effects may include: sudden hair movement despite no wind and eyes growing to 40% of face size.

That’s all for today! See you tomorrow.

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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