Education for Education's Sake

While doing the daily things attendant to a stay at home parent, like scrubbing spilt milk and Cheerios off the landing of the stairway, and proceeding to scrub the entire stairway since I'd made a clean spot, it occurs to me so profoundly how seriously overqualified I am for this job.  As a person formally trained in Electrical Engineering and having worked in that profession for nine years, it sometimes pains me to not be utilizing my education, a thing that I paid so much to acquire... in time, attention, and money.

Like many people in this economy who are working either below or outside their education level, I have many moments where I question,  "What the hell am I doing this for?".  With me, fortunately, the answer is very obvious - my kids.  I am raising what I hope to be happy and successful children.  In this I feel my education, and the love of learning that it imbued me with, is serving me, and them, well.

Plus I realize that raising children can be an education in and of itself, starkly along very different lines than the cold hard logic of Engineering.  I think the trick is to apply your mind to whatever it is you are currently engaged in.  I am currently reading a book on parenting and child psychology.  My experience as a parent has spurred my interest in Social Psychology as well.  Take what life presents you and apply your mind to it. There is something to be valued and learned in every human endeavor.

The take home point is this - Education and knowledge will enrich your life far and beyond any monetary reward. It will enrich our society far and beyond the individual's ability to earn a buck. We should place equal, if not greater, emphasis on learning for learning's sake.  The benefits of educating a person go far and beyond the money that it puts into their pocketbook. In our world today (and likely so in times past) so much emphasis is placed on money.  The object of money drives our educational decisions and goals.  Prestige is an attraction point as well, but sadly prestige is also tied to money.  Some of our most lauded professions are also the top money generators.  If there is a degree that derives no applicable end point other than achieving that grand goal of generating money, that degree is considered a wasted effort.  Keeping the point of this essay in mind, consider that teachers, whom it can be argued do the most good for the most people, are also the worst paid and the some of the most poorly treated professionals, especially when you consider the level of education they operate at and have sacrificed to obtain, many even with Masters or Doctorate degrees.  A sad state of affairs if we really value education.

Money, or lack thereof, is also a great impediment to people who desire to obtain an education.  The rising cost of education is a huge problem and much discussed.  Universities have been turned over to the big business model with emphasis on the bottom line above the loftier goal of betterment of humanity...enter money once again.

Enter the Internet to the rescue.   I love the Internet!  It is such a force for good...or it can be.  Sadly it predominantly sinks to the LCD (lowest common denominator).  It is such a powerful force in learning and the exchange of information. I use it daily to research and learn things...I love learning and hope to do it till I die.

One Major Caution - "USE THE SOURCE LUKE!".  One thing that experience on the Internet should help you do is to cultivate a healthy skepticism. Be initially skeptical of information.  Be aware that corporations often sponsor sites and studies to promote them or their product....Again with the money.  Check the source(s) thoroughly. If people make wild claims without evidence, sound logic, or credible sources feel free to dismiss them and their ideas. People are biased and many have an agenda.  Research who is saying it and what/where they are getting their information from...also don't consult just one opinion or source...check at least three reliable sources.  The freedom of information also requires vetting of information too...once again life teaches us that there are no easy answers...but it is worth the effort if you hope to acquire solid information for your questions.

I imagine a day when people will be able to get much of their education via the Internet, in a very cost effective and maybe even a free way.  The trick is to get people to use this wonderful tool for good and useful purposes...rather than just to titillate their senses.  Sadly too many people tend to favor their animal brains (The limbic system with its attendant urges known as the 5 Fs - Fight, Flight, Feed, Forage, Fool Around-or better know as the Fword) over their upper brains (their cortex).  The dilemma we face in this information age is how to educate and motivate people to want to be educated, and teach people how to be critical and abstract thinkers with the ability to filter and vet information.

"Thinking is America’s national disability. I’m all for anything that provokes Americans to think." - Paul Craig Roberts. 

Viva la revolucion!  Viva la Internet!  Up with people!  Knowledge is Power.  A love of learning and gaining knowledge will bless our lives and the lives of others...keep learning and value your education for education's sake whatever you may be doing presently.  Try to apply your mind to it.  There are lessons to be learned in almost anything.

Well, that's all for now...time to go wetvac barf off the couch...my 2 year old is sick today.