Education & AI
What is human-maxxing?
Human-maxxing is the term Peter Hyman used in his Oppidan Lecture for the deliberate development of the whole person – head, heart and hand. He sets it against the wider "maxxing" trend, in which people try to maximise their looks, strength or wealth. Hyman's argument is that the drive to self-improvement is real, and should be pointed at the capacities young people need to shape a world being changed by AI.
Summary
In his Oppidan Lecture at the RSA in September 2026, Peter Hyman, founding headteacher of School 21, described human-maxxing as the deliberate programme through which people develop their capacities in full. Hyman traces the idea to a school workshop in Bristol, where a 16-year-old explained "mewing", a looksmaxxing technique, and other students described gym-maxxing and tips on getting rich. Hyman's reading is that all of this, whether healthy or harmful, comes from a strong impulse for self-improvement. Hyman defines head as knowledge, curiosity, discernment, imagination, judgement and wisdom; heart as belonging, compassion, generosity, courage and character; and hand as agency, creativity, problem solving, craftsmanship and action. Hyman argues that schools fall short for three reasons: too narrow a definition of success, too much compliance and too little initiative, and too little sense of purpose. The Key Group's 2024 analysis of almost 147,000 Year 10 pupils in England found that only 49% did any work experience, and fewer than 2% did two weeks.
Our perspective
Human-maxxing is a direct juxtaposition to the current -maxxing trend that has so far taken in things such as gym-maxxing, productivity-maxxing, fibre-maxxing and sleep-maxxing. Underneath all of it, Hyman sees young people with a genuine drive to improve themselves. Human-maxxing is about pointing that drive towards the development of the whole person.
However, the space in which young people have the opportunity to practise these human skills is narrowing. With the focus at school being on examination and coursework, and limited work experience and early career exposure available, it is vital that we find forums in which these skills can be focussed on, developed, practised, and improved. This matters for young people, and for ensuring we have a workforce equipped to deal with a rapidly changing future.
“We are upgrading our machines while downgrading ourselves.”
Peter Hyman, founding headteacher of School 21 · Changing the Story (Substack)