Being educated is priceless. Being educated is not just about getting grades in school, scores on exams, being able to memorize information, getting degrees, developing skill sets or having certain life experiences. While it can have all of those elements to it, being educated is a qualitative thing, not just a qualitative thing. Being educated isn’t about attaining as it is a process of gaining and maintaining. If someone is educated they have shown that they have the ability to think, and they have spent time engaging in something (information or task). Being educated in welding or building a wall is different than being educated in philosophy or mathematics, however education in all these areas requires one to have the ability to think and put in the time to engage in the task. Being educated either formally or informally is something our culture is taking more and more for granted. People do not want to engage in the process of education but want to attain information. Education is something much deeper than information or skill gathering.
Types of education:
It is important to know that everyone can be educated and that education can be in the form of intellectual knowledge as well as physical knowledge or skill. For instance, intellectual knowledge can aid in someones assessment of a problem and solution generation. Physical knowledge can be seen in a persons execution of a physical task. Many masters such as (electricians, plumbers, sword makers, masons, carpenters, mechanics,) have honed their physical skills to complete tasks that when they are operating, muscle memory can take over and make the job easier, while they do use their intellectual knowledge quite heavily, they also rely on the bodies physical knowledge to complete tasks. Being educated in physical knowledge can be as important as the development of intellectual knowledge. No matter what type of education someone engages in, it is important to recognize and focus on the process of educating oneself and being fully immersed into the topic or skill.
Usage:
Not all information has to be directly usefull in every day life. For example someoen may not knowingly use algebra or statistics in their every day job of home life but this information doesn’t sease to be important. The knowlege of history or ability to use a speed quare to build a set of stairs may not be imporant for many but the knowledge and ability is important. It is important to know and be expsed to things. Education is not a bad thing and learning is important. Being educated can be difficult and it may not seem that the education one has received is “paying off” but to not pursue education because of its practical application is foolish. Usage and implementation of information and skills is important and it can be important to focus on studying certain things opposed to others however educating ones self is the ability all humanity has. While some have it in varying degrees, all humanity has the ability to be educated.
Maintenance:
Maintaining knowledge and skill requires constant education and practice. Skills do erode when not maintained and knowledge bases do the same. It is easy to study information and take a test on that information but it is quite another thing to study, take a test, and then retain that knowledge base for future use. Engaging in consistent education is a must for our work and our lives. Maintenance requires the ability to think, time, and effort. Maintaining and level of knowledge and ability is so critically important to living well. It is one thing to gain information or to master a skill, it is quite another to maintain that level of ability and insight. Educating oneself means very little if someone is willing to maintain what they have the ability to learn and the time to maintain.
What Matters:
Education Matters! what type of education can be debated but knowledge is important and should not be something to fear. Education does not require one to have a high IQ or to be “smart”. It does not requite a certain income level or country to be born into. Being educated can be a pursuit of any individual and should be a pursuit of all people. The pursuit of education is what we are all capable of. We have the ability to think, we have the capacity to understand and learn, we all need to engage in this ability.