Teach everyone starting from the age of 5 that it’s impossible to learn anything correctly without the instruction of a superior, and you’ll end up with the stupidest educated class imaginable.

For those of you not suitably cynical to Confucian thinking yet, “superior” here doesn’t mean “better” but “has some form of official certificate and/or is older.” And actually, yes, “stupid” means both “not curious about the world or capable of dealing with new concepts” as well as “knows few facts”. People might know more English vocab than Webster himself the day before the test, but give them a few years and you’re left with highly credentialed individuals who don’t remember anything of value and don’t have the will to learn anything on their own.