The Spongebob License Theory

Honestly my theory is he just has bad test taking anxiety, he was driving perfectly with that tough boating teacher but as soon as it came down to actually doing the test he freaked and started panicking

I think Spongebob is one of those people who hate change. He subconsciously fucks it up in order to be in boating school forever. Some people who have already finished school say they really wanna go back to school for some reason.

Something you failed to mention, is when ever SpongeBob fails horribly at driving, he is nervous His nerves cause him to start driving recklessly, but when ever he is calm, he is able to drive

That could be a plausible theory. Part of SpongeBob might not want to get his license. One of Stephen Hillenburg‘s rules was that No matter what, Spongebob would never get his boating license. Stephen liked the way he and Mrs. Puff interacted and didn’t want the dynamic to end.

You missed how the way Mrs. Puff gives Spongebob his license in No Free Rides is by giving him a 10 word essay on what he learned in boating school, even going as far as to give him “What I learned in boating school is…”. All he had to say was “how to drive”, but he doesn’t even do that. He keeps trying to “change his answer”, but when Mrs. Puff gets the essay, it’s just doodles, an ink blot, and the words how and drive crossed out. He even scribbled out the word school for some reason. He even tries to tell his parents that he only passed because of an essay, but Mrs. Puff silences him.

this would actually make sense because before the episode “No free rides” He was obviously weekly paying for Boating School until No Free Rides when the police forced Mrs. Puff to give him free driving lessons So not only is he getting away free almost every time He’s also not paying Mrs. Puff for everything he puts her through He KNOWS exactly what he’s doing

As someone with HORRENDOUS test anxiety, especially with the teacher literally sitting next to you and taking notes, I can tell you from personal experience some people just drive ten times worse when they're being graded on it. This just feels like the cartoon exaggeration of what I went through, plus Spongebob's general upbeat attitude, not some malicious act.

Idk WHY there's so many dislikes. 😭 It's a well made video and you got some solid points. I wish you would go into why Spongebob acted so strangely towards Squidward in the boating class episode.

That’s a plausible theory there. If I were Mrs puff, I would expel and ban spongebob from my school. I know she made a vow to never give up on students, but I don’t see why she can’t make at least one exception.

This proves my theory that old SpongeBob always felt like it had something more to it then it seems while new spongebob is just random nautical nonsense

SpongeBob is canonically a great driver, this is shown multiple times, the reason he tends to fail so miserably on the driving test is due to his nerves. This is why SpongeBob is able to drive perfectly with the help of Patrick’s presence as his best friend talking into his head helps keeps him claim and collected. This is also why SpongeBob is able to drive the crabby mobile perfectly fine as he’s not under the pressure a driving test would put him under. Great video though, really well put together, like 👍🏻

I would argue it is more a problem of anxiety rather than knowledge, which he has. This anxiety when driving specifically a boat is the real problem. Of course, the add up of him enjoying theory class too much to leave it might be another reason.

This video made me realize how much of a public menace Spongebob can be.

I'd make one alteration to the theory, which is it not being on purpose, but rather a subconscious anxiety. My guess is that he does genuinely want to pass, but at a subconscious level he realizes that if he ever did it would mean he would graduate and therefore would no longer be able to attend boating school. Attending boating school is one of his greatest joys in life. Therefore, whenever he's in a position to pass a driving exam he starts getting really bad anxiety which leads to his driving skill diminishing greatly. He isn't consciously aware of this, he knows about his anxiety but can't quite figure out why he's getting it and probably just assumes he's getting nervous about the exam itself. Attempts to cheat also make him feel guilty, which works in tandem with his anxiety to help ensure he can never pass because it gives him both a conscious guilt that makes him feel like he doesn't deserve to pass paired with a subconscious lack of willingness to pass to begin with. If this perspective is correct, it would mean that Spongebob's mental prerequisite to passing the exam would be for him to accept moving on in life and leaving boating school behind him. Only then will his anxiety go away, allowing him to calmly pass the exam.

It's anxiety. He can do everything well until he's examined or is placed in an environment of anxiety

Bro just has insane driving anxiety LMAO

I think what this video actually proves is he isn't faking his fails, I think he's prone to stress and anxiety, and Mrs puffs and some others end up stressing him out during his tests, but when he's calm or in his element he's a better driver.

11:33 “SpongeBob drives perfectly” My brother in Bikini Bottom, he’s literally driving in the middle of the road lmfao

While the theory is interesting, I think it just boils down to Spongebob being so anxious during the exam that he makes some very obvious mistakes. I have myself wasted 2 years on repeating the exam because I was impossibly anxious. I had decent driving skills and I routinely had lessons with my instructor and everything was fine, but when it was time to take the exam, I got very anxious from the exam itself, from having to wait in line half a day to actually take the exam, and from having the examiner sit next to me. The last one was very serious for me because I'm terrible with people in general and having someone I don't know sit next to me and watch how I drive is extremely nerve wracking. In Spongebob's case he knows Mrs Puff quite well at this point, so that's not the problem, not to mention he doesn't have social anxiety, but I think he is just that much nervous because it's an exam

The theory falls appart by applying Hanlon's razor: "don't atribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity" Bob consistently fails boating school not out of self-sabotage, but because he's a nervious wreck behind the wheel, and also his good driving isn't consistent, he also gets careless, you also forget the episode where he's all by himself in Bikini Bottom and forges a licence with Ms. Puff's equipment and steals a boat, he drives awfully. So I would rule out self-sabotage.