Some ramblings of mine here about education and my experience of it.
Firstly, a bit about my background, I went to college, studied electronics firstly. Then at university, I studied computing, getting the best grades in the group for computer hardware, I got the worst grades in the group for computer programming and systems analysis, (thank you dear brain!)…It was just the matter of my brain being wired differently.
Each one of us has a speciality, the way our brain is wired and what our heart yearns for and no two brains are wired the same, its what makes us unique despite the idiotic nature of people competing to try and be the same. kinda reminds me of this:
Human existence seems to be a bit of a paradox.
After computing I was about to change my major to psychology, even studying things like cognition and other topics to prepare. But I ended up going into photography. Hey, sometimes it takes time to find yourself in life, the oldest student at our university was 92 years old. I find that quite fascinating, I wish I could have met him actually.
The competition in knowledge, the “I know more than her” or “I know more than him” or “they know nothing compared to me, see I’ll prove it” mentality is when one’s ego gets hold of it, it becomes less about the knowledge or the topic and more about being an authority in knowledge. Similar to the ‘gatekeeper’ phenomenon. I find it ridiculous personally.
I’m not trying to put people off going to university, it has its benefits for sure, I’m just trying to make a point, it is my opinion based on my experiences…Even after
completing education to university level myself, I learned that it’s possible for someone who doesn’t have a degree nor a phd, who hasn’t even attended university, for whatever reason, to be intelligent and intellectual, actually I know some very intelligent people who’ve not been to uni. Also not everyone can attend, hey it’s not cheap and the shackles of the student loan isn’t fun fairground ride either…
I’ve also learned that someone who has a degree or phd, can be surprisingly narrow minded or black & white thinkers, self righteous, entitled, judgemental and arrogant (again not saying they all are but i’ve met a few like this).
Possibly the unconditional praise and admiration of family, friends, community and society contributing to these traits. These negative traits often get in the way of true learning beyond text book knowledge, they get in the way of growth of character and blossoming of a person and soul.
It does depend on the nature of a person though, i’ve met someone working towards a phd who is gentle and kind, open to knowledge, he was quite a nice guy actually. Another I met who had a phd was just a d!ck, who I eventually lost a lot of respect for. I think humility and the ability to truly listen leads to an open mind and a blossoming soul.
Arrogance feeds the ego, but suffocates the soul.
One thing which many fail to understand and become aware of, is that knowledge isn’t one dimensional, it’s multi dimensional. Not all who have intelligence are wise. You can have a ridiculous amount of knowledge yet still have no tact nor warmth to you. University can help you learn a heck of a lot and you can benefit so much, not to mention that piece of paper at the end.
However it can be very one dimensional, it can make you book smart, even end up as an outright nerd having immense knowledge, which is very useful when applied, sure, but that doesn’t mean every dimension of knowledge is gained, I did learn a lot in my life which I didn’t learn at School, college nor university.. All the things that I know in life, education taught me some of it, but experience taught me the brunt of it, I still feel like i’m self taught, even after all that education.
I have been thinking about this for a while, I’ve met many different types of people, formally educated and self educated of different backgrounds, ethnicities,
mentalities. I’m fascinated by people. I know I would have enjoyed psychology because of this, however, there’s one vital thing that made me wonder if it’s a good idea or not.
My ability to relate and put myself in the shoes of genuine people who are genuinely suffering (yes I can tell the difference), I know I would have to get into that sort of work and it would affect me a bit too much in life I think. I cannot just switch off from such things at the end of the day. This empathic and compassionate trait of mine is a double edge sword, both a good and bad thing, overall, i’m grateful that I have it even though I have had to go through an obstacle course in life because of it.
After all, lets face it, we’re on earth only for a limited amount of time, spending it competing, fighting, backstabbing and manipulating, or combating others to establish ones superiority is futile and quite a huge shameful waste of existence.
Anyway, I’ve rambled on quite a bit, I had better leave it here and leave you with a recent video I did where i’m setting up my project room and start talking about my experiences in high school:
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