Not so much 'stop trying', as 'some ends are mutually exclusive.'
It is not *possible* to be highly educated and skilled *at everything*.
A complex society resolves this through producing knowledge experts: Experts at healthcare, at managing resources, at data processing, the list is endless as is the potential for the need.
The fundamental problem comes from this thought:
'Because *I* dont understand this thing [these so called experts are blithering on about, and saying NO to me over], it clearly *makes no sense whatsoever*, and should be discarded and ignored!'
It is very rarely expressed so ... curtly... but that is the foundational 'notion' behind populism, and its subsequent exploitation.
It itself, resolves from an internalized notion:
'Everyone is foundationally equal, and, given equal access, can achieve the same results and ends.'
It's a very *attractive* notion, and it is very hard to fault people for reaching for it, even subconsciously.
Especially since the extreme of its refutation is the basis for a VERY LARGE NUMBER OF SOCIETAL ILLS, like sexism and raceism, and that trying to embrace it as a 'black/white' ideology resulted in A GREAT MANY FAILED AND HARMFUL THINGS, like eugenics.
Rather than 'accepting that you'll never be as good as your leaders, never questioning their superior, august leadership, and accepting that you just suck', I'd tender this alternative, with a few sources to help substantiate them.
The notion that everyone starts 'equally capable' for 'any educational outcome', *is false*.
Humans *DO NOT* start 'tabula rasa.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-023-00763-0
It is not possible to predict which pattern biases any individual human will have at birth. As such, any such reflex notion is irresponsible at best, and nakedly evil at worst. (Race, gender, economic circumstance, religious affiliation, et al. NONE ARE DIAGNOSTIC)
This means that education needs to very carefully take stock of what innate qualities a student has, and not attempt to 'cookie cutter' them, no matter where they came from.
Likewise, it means that these innate biases can prevent high quality attainment for some areas of knowledge, skill, or dicipline. (This is not the same as 'never being able to understand', it means 'not being the very best', which is a vastly different thing.)
It is important to further point out, that 'scanning brains! Modern Phrenology GO!', *IS UNDESIRABLE, AND NOT A GOAL.* The 'demands'/'needs' of the society *have 0 correlation* with what any individual's rate of incidence of any trait is. Desirable, or not.
The only real indicator *is performance*. On AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL.
Because individuals are born with such growth potential biases, the ideal path for those individuals is the union of 'enjoyment/interest', and 'individual ability bias.'
That means that no matter how much some suit in congress complains about the 'glut of useless artists', (the cognate of the modern 'they got a useless degree!' Rhetoric) their argument is just useless posturing. Education on their actual strengths and enjoyment, will give you the finest if that feild. What the govt 'wants', does not factor.
Accepting this paradigm changes the statement to this, then:
'I am drawn to numbers and math. Nothing satisfies like discovering a new abstract problem, other than *solving* it. I dont *need* or *want* to be the best engineer, or doctor, or lawyer. My natural affinity makes me a better mathematician than they ever will be. Thier affinities, make them better engineers, doctors, or lawyers than I ever will be. I am better served by being given the means to be the best I am good at, and enjoy doing.'
Once you go there, it's much easier to trust that the objections to a policy you dont understand has real basis, even if you dont grasp it.
And more importantly, that voices screaming at you to 'trust your own judgement!' and 'Go against that advice!', tend toward being dangerous, self serving charlatans.
It's less about 'accepting inferiority', and more about understanding how 'being the best at something' comes at the cost of something else.
A great deal of political rhetoric has been levelled at trying to mandate education as a 'mcProcess' to produce the kinds of workers the society *wants*.
Our educational system *has abysmal* attainment scores.
Countries that do check for student aptitudes, do much better.
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016100/index.asp
The main complaint, revolves around 'economic outcomes' of such tracking. This is related to 'they got a useless degree!' Mindsets.
There is no such thing as a useless degree. There is only people that have what you want, and those that do not, and an intrinsic desire to try to maximize what you want, even if that does not, in fact, work.
Denial of that desire is crucial to any actually enlightened future society, that honestly takes human UNidealness into account.
