The Value of Learning

I'm often struck by the predominance of belief the education should further us financially. I don't dispute the value of technical or professional education. Practitioners of accounting, law and medicine do need directed training and a background of knowledge and skills. But that isn't all they need.

Many Doctors, for instance, are accused of having a poor bedside manner, which is just another way of saying they don't relate well with people. This can be a personality trait, but it can also be that the training of doctors dose not allow for a widening of their knowledge base or understanding of the world around them. The same can be said for many professions were the participant tends to be focused in to a tunnel vision world view and that would include without any doubt college professors.

A broad, interdisciplinary education may not produce scientists, mathematicians and legal experts as quickly as we might like, but it might produce citizens with a expanded vision of the world around them and a mind set that allows for solutions outside of their narrow view.

I recognize that some people gravitate to professions that might suit their personality and that the stereotype absent minded professor or cold calculating accountant may be over done, but when you talk to some of these people your realize that the life experiences, training and professional environment often leave them incapable of comprehending the reality in the world around them.

The successful business man that thinks that the only thing wrong with government services is that they don't think more like business maybe correct in some facets of operations and attitude, but what he fails to realize is that the thing that is wrong with his business is that it doesn't think like a well run government program. (Take my previous example of private medicine versus the Veterans Administration.) The reason he fails is an inability to think broadly and creatively in any situation that isn't commercial or profit driven.

Education should teach a broad array of things to people particularly in the early years. I believe that the first two years of college should be Major declaration free. How do you know what you want to eat at the buffet table until you've sampled a little bit of many things. If you sample in moderation you will soon know and have room for the things you enjoy and that motivate you.

We are in such a hurry to get going with life. Parents complain that their sons and daughters can't finish their degrees in four years. A four year college degree has been a standard for how many years? How much more knowledge and specialization has occurred since the four year college degree became a benchmark? What is the student leaving behind in educational opportunities and knowledge acquisition by trying to accomplish this unrealistic standard.

(Don't talk to me about the cost, because that illogical way we finance education is a joke that no one is laughing at. The solution is too far outside the cliched "box" that business grads are always talking about.)

We know now that we are going to be involved in a life time of learning of not only informal life experience or street smarts as we used to say, but also formal learning in order to keep or information fresh and our knowledge base evolving.

If we don't establish a base of broad knowledge, creative thinking outlets and critical thinking skills, we are handicapping the people we expect to lead us. Education isn't just about making money. It's about equipping human beings to live in their own world.