I interpreted as "write on the paper at a 90 degree angle to the lines" (aka not the way you should be doing it). This seems to be a standard rehashing of "going against the grain", advice to be different, to not follow expectations. That's not what I would necessarily call bad advice.

The Esteemed Great Leader pg might say, or rather he did say in http://paulgraham.com/hs.html which I'll just quote:

"Rebellion is almost as stupid as obedience. In either case you let yourself be defined by what they tell you to do. The best plan, I think, is to step onto an orthogonal vector. Don't just do what they tell you, and don't just refuse to."

The quote is a metaphor. It is clearly not about going the other way on lined paper, but rather the basic principle that one should not blindly follow instructions because someone else says they are right. If what you are told to do is wrong, don't do it.

Actually it's even stronger than that. There was no instruction to follow the line, it's just an assumption something that comes naturally which is why it is such a pernicious thing. The quote is a warning against having your thoughts and actions guided in a predetermined direction even without you being aware of it.

Bring a metaphor to a room full of over-literal logic-minded engineers and watch it get kicked to death I guess. :-(

>What the hell does that even mean? If that is your best advice, you are probably full of bad advice. I cannot comprehend the level of confusion required to think that quote is clever.

It means go against the grain? I can't comprehend the level of ignorance that makes you incapable of understanding one of the classic dystopian novels.

I agree. The school-issued iPads will auto-rotate the virtual paper making this advice pointless.

There is more being said with those words than just whats written.

"le contexte est plus fort que le concept"

or, curiously juxtaposed, "to read between the lines"...

Any student who wrote in a direction perpendicular to the lines of the paper would likely be sent in for well-deserved psychological counseling.

It means "don't submit to authority".