The Value Of Knowledge

I have been finding a lot of thoughts on the subject of college and education. Or to be more accurate, I have been receptive to those thoughts lately. I feel conflicted because I have found two compelling pieces that say very different things on the matter, and I agree with both of them.

The first one is an article about hipsters on food stamps. This article covers a number of subjects, one of the major ones being that the education system in America is broken. We treat college like it is a prerequisite for life. We think that anybody without a degree is too stupid to do anything more complicated than work a cash register. And we say that people with degrees are guaranteed to make more money.

I'm not cold or cynical enough to say that college serves no benefit. I grew into an adult there and I learned a lot there. The problem is that it didn't magically give me a job, nor did it magically make me awesome at the jobs I have gotten since then. Unless you are taking college courses in how to do a very specific job well, college will never come close to on-the-job training.

The other thing is a TED Talk by John Green. In it, he talks about learning communities. One of the most powerful lines to me was when he said that the things he has learned has affected him literally every day of his life. Maybe not every single fact, nor the textbook manner in which they are taught, but the ideas and knowledge kept being used. For him, the seeking and sharing of knowledge make life better and worth living.

As I think about these two, I realize that they are not diametrically opposed. The first article takes issue with colleges in specific. The author has a problem with the business of it. The talk says that knowledge is awesome and worthwhile and that it doesn't matter if your learning community is at a college or your job or on the internet watching educational videos.

I think this is why I can agree with both videos. They both say things that are right, but do not contradict each other. I think college has very little value to the self-motivated and the unmotivated people among us. But knowledge is truly priceless. It makes us happier and healthier; it makes the world better for everyone.