Technology and environmental changes happen so fast, we can’t picture the world five years from now, let alone 50. So how to best prepare for the unknown?
A person lays out a map as she packs for travel. (Illustration by News Decoder.)
Editor’s note: 15 July marks World Youth Skills Day, created by UNESCO to emphasize how important it is that young people get skills and knowledge needed to prepare for the future. Because there seem to be so many existential crises happening now from AI to climate change, UNESCO tells us that educators, governments and organizations should invest in innovative youth skills programs that help young people not just to adapt to rapid change but also learn and practice such things as empathy and bridging cultural divides.
But as we create these programs it is important to note that in a world with such an uncertain future, perhaps we also need to encourage young people to envision new ways of looking at their own futures and the futures of their communities and the larger world around them. To put this into perspective, we republish an article by News Decoder’s Educational News Director, Marcy Burstiner, first published in October 2025 that reimagines ideas of success.
We launched Decoder Replay to help readers better understand current world events by seeing how our correspondents decoded similar events in the past.
So many people are brought up with few acceptable goals in life. Our societies define success for us. In some societies success is a family with lots of children, preferably boys. In others, success is a son or daughter becoming a doctor or lawyer. In other places success is defined by money or political power.
So it was heartening for us to hear that among the 22 Fellows awarded the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation prize this month — known as the “genius grants” — is basket artist Jeremy Frey, the son of a fisherman who grew up in poverty.
You see, in the United States we’ve often heard the term “basket weaving” used among parents and on university campuses as one of derision to describe a slacker. It is seen as something silly and a waste of time that takes one’s attention away from those medical school and law school preparation courses.
Now, becoming a doctor and a lawyer is a great achievement and the world needs doctors, and yes, lawyers. But how many young people have their passions and talents crushed by the weight of pre-defined success?
The MacArthur Foundation is a grant-funding organization with this stated mission: “We are committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. The world is more just when actions are inclusive, and fair, where past and present barriers are removed to provide equitable access, treatment, consideration, and opportunity. The world is more verdant and abundant when the planet and its people flourish. The world is more peaceful when people are free from fear, conflict, violence, and war.”
Its “genius grant” is $800,000 with no strings attached and the grant winners don’t apply. The foundation finds them and calls them. The picks run the gamut from scientists and peace advocates to doctors, environmentalists, musicians, artists and philosophers.
Passion projects
In choosing Frey, the foundation noted that the artist’s work not only reflects generations of craft of his Indigenous ancestors, but is part of his effort to save endangered ash trees.
“His imagination is inspiring young Indigenous artists and the fine arts world,” the foundation wrote on its website.
The grants are famous around the world, not only because they come with such a large, unfettered purse, but because of the stamp of “genius” that has been placed on the award winners.
Sure, winning a Nobel Prize would be super cool, but to be declared a bonafide genius? You really can’t beat that.
But the thing people should most appreciate about the MacArthur Foundation and the idea of grants to geniuses who are artists, thinkers, creators and lifesavers is the redefinition of success and smarts.
The creation of beauty is something that should be accepted and celebrated and appreciated. The conservation of the environment and culture and tradition is a valid and noble career choice. We all have special talents and knowledge and gifts and passions that can be employed in positive ways to better the world we live in.
So when thinking about the next direction your life might take, whether you are 18 or 80, think not only about how it will support you and your family — valid and noble goals in themselves — but where your true passions lie and where they might lead you.
Envision your own definition of success and your own definition of genius.
Questions to consider:
1. What does the author mean by “pre-defined success”?
2. How do you define success?
3. How do you define genius?
Marcy Burstiner is the educational news director for News Decoder. She is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School and professor emeritus of journalism and mass communication at the California Polytechnic University, Humboldt in California. She is the author of the book "Investigative Reporting: From premise to publication."