Since we don't know with any certainty what specific aptitudes

Hear, O seekers of truth, the words of Eric Adams, spoken as counsel for the generations yet to rise: “Since we don’t know with any certainty what specific aptitudes today’s students will need tomorrow, we need to ensure they have the critical thinking and problem-solving abilities that extend beyond any one technology or program.” This is no idle utterance, but a warning and a beacon, for the future is a sea without maps, and only those who carry the compass of wisdom shall find their way.

From the beginning of time, fathers and mothers sought to prepare their children for the labors of the world. The shepherd taught the child to tend the flock, the farmer taught the plow, the scribe taught the scroll. Yet the tools of one generation have ever given way to the tools of the next. The shepherd’s crook was replaced by the shepherd’s drone, the scribe’s scroll gave way to the printing press, and the press itself gave way to the screen. Adams reminds us that to bind a child’s education to a single tool is to bind them to the past. It is not the instrument, but the mind behind it, that endures.

Consider, O listeners, the tale of the ancient Greeks. They prepared their youth not only for war or for trade, but for the contest of ideas. In the agora, they trained them to ask questions, to wrestle with contradictions, to seek truth through debate. This legacy of critical thinking and problem-solving survives long after the weapons of their hoplites rusted into dust. Though their tools have vanished, their wisdom still shapes the world. So it must be with us: if we prepare our children only for today’s device, they will be lost when tomorrow’s dawn brings a new one.

The heart of Adams’s saying is thus: technology changes, but the human mind must remain adaptable. To train a student only to master a single program is to give them a fragile gift, one that time will soon shatter. But to train them in reasoning, in questioning, in the skill of facing problems unafraid—this is to arm them for life, no matter what storms come. For the one who knows how to think will never be enslaved by the shifting tides of tools and trends.

Look also to the story of Leonardo da Vinci. He lived in a world without electricity, without engines, without the vast sciences we now take for granted. Yet he sketched flying machines, bridges, weapons, and wonders beyond his age. His genius was not in mastering a particular craft alone, but in the boundless reach of his problem-solving imagination. He saw the future, not because he knew its specific inventions, but because he trained his mind to explore, to question, to create.

The lesson is clear: do not chase only the aptitudes of the present moment, for they may vanish like smoke in the wind. Instead, pursue the deeper skills that underlie all others: the courage to question, the discipline to reason, the creativity to solve. These qualities will not fade with the passing of one technology into the next. They are eternal, and they make men and women masters of their tools, not slaves to them.

Practical steps are at hand for all: train yourself daily in questioning the world around you; do not accept answers untested, but search for their roots. Practice solving small problems, so that greater ones do not overwhelm you. In teaching children, focus not only on drills and memorization, but on puzzles, on stories, on challenges that awaken the mind. Encourage curiosity, for it is the seed of all learning. In this way, you prepare not only for today’s needs, but for the unknown battles of tomorrow.

Thus, O heirs of the future, remember the wisdom of Eric Adams. The future is uncertain, but your preparation need not be. Build not only the skill to use the tool, but the strength to understand, adapt, and create. For the world may strip away every technology, but the mind trained in critical thinking shall always rebuild, shall always endure, and shall always lead.