John Stuart Mill was not allowed to decide his educational fate until his late teens, and shortly after shedding the restrictions of his father's teaching methods, he began suffering severe emotional distress. He relieved his depression by resolving for himself the dilemma that continues to face the exceptionally able students of today: the choice between unfettered intellectual development or the inevitable biasing that results from being taught by another. And of the many interests competing for control of the individual's education and development, it is only the individual who must resolve this dilemma that has no legally enforceable final say.
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