We laugh at these memes, as we should, but they reveal something we desperately need: frameworks for navigating unfamiliar territory.

Just think about it. When you walk into a new job, move to a new city, or become a parent for the first time, where’s your starter pack? Where’s the concise blueprint that says “here’s where you can start”?

That’s what schools and institutions are supposed to do. Universities give us degrees. We get our doctors, engineers, lawyers, and experts from accredited institutions. These credentials matter, don’t get me wrong. They’re how we know someone won’t accidentally kill us during surgery or design a bridge that collapses.

But there’s a gap. We’re missing the sort of practical starter pack that exists between formal education and questionable advice from loved ones.

Most of life’s biggest arenas (relationships, raising kids, navigating conflict, succeeding in corporate) come with no real map. Definitely no sort of starter pack. Just vibes, trauma, or advice from your pretty weird cousin who watched a TikTok.

So people make their own, and they sometimes turn out great.

Investor Packy McCormick and economics writer Noah Smith have gone viral for their “Electric Tech Stack,” a sort of DIY starter pack for how countries can industrialize in the modern era. Although it’s not from the UN or the IMF, it’s from two guys who happen to know a thing or two. And it might turn out to be pretty useful.

Jared Kushner (I know - you’re holding your breath) read a bunch of books on Middle Eastern politics leading up to the Abraham Accords.

Yes, the Intelligencer mocked him for thinking he could solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a DIY education. But isn’t that just… learning??? Isn’t that someone building their own starter pack because the system didn’t provide one that worked? Maybe I’m wrong.

But the mockery is awfully telling: we want expertise to come only from official channels. But what if the official channels aren’t teaching what people actually need?

The internet roasted him, but now he’s spearheading peace talks between Hamas and Israel, which may have brought some sort of solution to the conflict.

Where’s the box for how to switch careers in middle-age? For managing aging parents while raising young children?

Finland gives all new parents a literal baby box/starter pack. The military has starter packs for basically all your needs in the system. But no institution in our education system is mandated to give you one for how to manage conflict, grow relationships, or navigate the corporate world.

Starter packs can be the new village elder. A way of saying: here’s what people like this usually do, believe, fear, misunderstand, aspire to.

Not perfect, but enough to get you going.

As AI challenges traditional gatekeepers of knowledge, our education system will evolve. It already is. Just look at Alpha School, which is leveraging AI as a tailored 1:1 tutor for students, who are testing the highest in the country.

The question isn’t whether institutions will matter. They will. The question is whether they’ll adapt to give people what they actually need.

Thanks for taking the Pack,

Zach

_{The vibe-killer disclaimer: The opinions in this post and all other posts only represent myself and do not represent the opinions of my employer or any groups I am a member of.
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