What is the value of education? When I was in elementary school I did not understand the value of education. It was hard for me to grasp the reason for these adults to make me work just to make marks on a paper that will get thrown in the trash anyway. I was told that it was all because it would help me to get a good job, and that was just something I wasn't interested at the time. I am in college now, and since then I've done lots of thinking.
I've come to realize that education is vitally important, central even, to sustain our functioning society and to keep our culture alive. There are a few points about the value of education that I want to bring up.
1. Education is required for freedom and equality.
Thomas Jefferson wrote
"Convinced that the people are the only safe depositories of their own liberty, and that they are not safe unless enlightened to a certain degree, I have looked on our present state of liberty as a short-lived possession unless the mass of the people could be informed to a certain degree."
I think that he was write when he wrote this. People need to be education about the principals about freedom and equality in order for them to function. The only reason we have our ideals now is because throughout history they have been tested and passed on from generation to generation by education. In America one of our greatest ideals is sovereignty of the individual over himself and his property. You can see that in the framework our of nation, with the shadow of a free market capitalist system, and the bill of rights. Unfortunately we have gone out of that framework that emphasized liberty by taking the leash off of our government. We've allowed this to happen because we have not been educated not to do so.
George Washington said
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”
If we would just take this knowledge from our first president and be educated, we would have a much better idea of what is going wrong with America. We would then be able to take steps in the right direction to heal our land.
2. Good education is a gift from God, and it can help us to serve Him better.
When Jesus walked the earth, he was a teacher. Jesus commanded his disciples to make more disciples. Even now the Holy Spirit teaches people spiritual things through the Bible. Without God being our educator, people would never become spiritually mature. Solomon prayed to God for wisdom, and now we have the Proverbs. The beginning of Proverbs has a lot to to say about seeking wisdom and knowledge.
(Proverbs 20:15) There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
The reason that I said that education can help us serve God better can be explained by the parable of the talents. I'm not going to write it all here but just like the talents, we can be good stewards of our education, which will then probably it so we are entrusted with more responsibility and increase our scope of influence. That way we can get more done, and serve God better.
3. Education can increase our effectiveness in all areas of life.
This is pretty obvious. People go to college to be more effective workers and get paid more.
But education isn't just about getting a good job. It is about bettering ourselves and becoming more aware of reality. For example, when a parent teaches their kid about the consequences of right and wrong behavior, that kid is being educated. Parents need to be educators of their children.
All throughout our lives we are being educated whether we like it or not. But this is a good thing. Even better, we have to choice to actively try to become more educated. That is why I write, it helps me to learn much more from my daily experiences, because it requires me to think about it and sort it all out.
So basically all good education supplies us with knowledge and experience to become more aware of truth. The more we are aware of reality, the less we are subject to manipulation through deception, which in effect denies power to those with ill will.
My conclusion is that, if everybody could just teach the next generation to seek to be educated and to seek wisdom and truth, the world would be a freer place, there would be a lot less suffering and wrong doing. And without less education, of course, the scales would tip in the opposite direction.
I think that is a decent explanation of the value of education, but what do I know?
