[johnNumen]

Excellent point! There has often been a part of me that has secretly wished for a slightly more rigorous schooling, even if that would have meant some pain and sacrifice. There is so much that can be accomplished when one is young that can't be made up for later on (languages in particular). The movie "Whiplash" is thematically relevant--an emotionally abusive director of an elite music school orchestra, when confronted by the student he has been targeting, explains that he treats his pupils so poorly because he thinks that all of the pain is worth it if even one of them goes on to become a truly great musician.

[quacked]

I have thought similar things about Whiplash. On the one hand, I find that J.K. Simmons's character was a monster, one who I would have a hard time not coming to blows with if he treated a family member in the way he treats Miles Teller's character. On the other hand, he leads the most elite student band in the (country?), and anyone who could make it out of the other end of his tutelage with their mind intact would be an incredibly proficient musician with the tenacity to endure many different directing styles of various intensity. I am reminded of the Chinese students that I met during my undergraduate degree who breezed through math that kept me up late into the night. Yes, perhaps their upbringing was cruel, but they have minds made of iron compared to myself and many of my Western peers. I still haven't decided whether or not the trade-off is worth it.