The average amount of time people in the West spend on “education” is huge.
(Not to mention the sums of money!)
Having a degree is not considered something special, anymore. It has become the norm.
(And its absence – a new fear)
People pursue degrees for mainly one reason: To get a “good” job.
The idea behind it looks like this: There’s a fixed job description and certain requirements. So you do the necessary training and start working. If the conditions regarding holidays, pension, etc are worthwhile, you will spend the rest of your life in this job.
(Mouth-watering? No?)
This may have been the way it was. But it’s not like this, anymore.
Job descriptions are becoming more and more specialized. Especially if what you are studying is related to technology, whatever you learn today will be outdated tomorrow. New jobs are being created faster than formal training can catch up with them.
The young kids growing up today will be the most educated generation ever.
Even before they are entering high school they are ripe with the fruits of having been subjected to an incessant flow of information since birth; It’s their element. And they move in it like fishes.
When they’ll reach so-called Higher Education, they are already soaked with knowledge. (Try watering something that’s already wet!)
But still they have to go through the motions of acquiring more and more and more…
Whether you’re a parent or a young individual standing in front of the crossroad of “what to do with my life” – consider this:
- Your smart phone can carry more information than your whole local library. Education is not about Knowledge.
- If there was something infinitely meaningful to harvest there, we all would have found it a long time ago.
So what is education about?
Maybe there is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Maybe this question has to be answered everyday anew?
Maybe it’s time to stop listening to people that tell you that you need to “know more”.
Maybe it’s up to you to define your own standards and go for it.
Why wait for somebody else to give you permission to live the life you want to live?
Why to delay your whole life past the vanishing horizons of never-ending knowledge-acquisition?
Why to postpone learning from experience?
Why not… do it now?
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Photo credit: markmiller from morguefile.com
