The concept of education is one of the most "incomplete" and misunderstood ones in our society. On one hand, most of us have the belief that education is something that we can only acquire in educational institutions. The more degrees or certificates we have, the more educated and knowledgeable we think we are. Our educational system is based on grades and marks that we obtain in examinations or tests that are “supposed” to prove our intellect and capacity to understand. All schools and universities basically only value the ability of a person to memorize information and his/her writing skills in one way or another. On the other hand, most of us have the belief that what our world truly needs is to build more schools and universities to solve our social struggles in all areas of life, but have we ever thought about our concept of "education" or what WE think it is?
If there is something that nobody can deny, is that our education is only based on the teaching and learning of subjects that are mainly related to our careers and occupation. The educational system is based on the learning of how to use knowledge to perform in our profession, to use the machinery/tools or to make money and that’s about it. Therefore, it’s important to keep in mind that education is a very deep concept that goes far beyond than just learning how to apply information or knowledge into our career area.
So how can we explain why our students are not taught to learn how to think, how to develop their creativity freely and how to understand their feelings and emotions in our educational system? Or how do we explain the fact that according to our current system, the emotional and mental part of a person does not matter? Also, the fact that the vast majority (almost all) of university professors and school teachers are not aware of how our mind works and how we can establish an emotional and mental balance in all aspects of our lives?
It is contradictory for us to expect to solve all our social problems worldwide and improve our quality of life when our teachers and professors don’t have the basic understanding of these aspects and how they influence the thinking patterns of a human being. So how can we call ourselves "educated" only because we get a degree or graduate from a university? From my perspective, an educated mind is universal in all aspects of life. The more educated the person is, the more well rounded she/he will be in all areas, and not just in one or a few that’s required for her/his profession.There is no diploma, masters or PhD degree that guarantees the integrity of an individual in general. Therefore, getting a degree does not guarantee success in our love life or marriage, nor guarantees that we'll be genuine people or even less, it guarantees the intelligence and maturity of a person. There is a big difference between "knowledge" and "wisdom"; its one thing to know something and another completely different one to understand it. Most of us might wonder, how come that a college diploma does not prove how educated an individual really is?
From a universal perspective, when the educational system is completely integrated, it contains all areas of our existence, and not just subjects or concepts related to our careers or material concepts. The mental efficiency, the capacity to process information and the emotional stability of a person is what truly reveals the level of integration, intelligence and education of a person overall. For example, we have judges and lawyers in our society that know all the existing laws that are written in the constitutions, but are completely unaware of the existence of universal laws and how they apply to our lives. We have psychologists and psychiatrists in charge of helping the emotional and mental part of our people, without having the basic understanding of what our DNA truly is and how it is structured, the relationship between our frequency or vibration with the emotional and cognitive part of each individual or the relationship that exists between our DNA and what we experience in our reality. So what can we expect from the rest of humanity then? These are just a few examples of the many contradictions that our educational system has. We cannot forget that we live in a world where "knowledge" means power and control of the masses where certain groups, in order to stay in power, must keep the population smart enough to practice their professions, but ignorant enough to not question or doubt what is taught at schools and universities.
There is a reason why getting an “education” is fairly expensive. The higher the tuition, the harder it is for most people to have the opportunity to get an “education”. There is a reason why most teachers and professors are not paid the way they should be; the less they get paid, the more the system can reduce the desire of people who would want to pursue their careers as educators all around the world. Our educational system was designed to create an "illusion" of knowledge in our society that only benefits certain groups. It is understandable that this is something that many of us might have a difficult time accepting or understanding at first since most of us perceive obtaining a degree from an educational institute as one of our most valuable achievements in our lives. It’s not a secret that it requires a lot of sacrifices in many ways for us to be able to graduate, but it is important not to mix up our love and passion for our professions or towards education in general with the reality of our world. It is totally irrelevant to talk about how well educated we are when we still do not know the basics of how to reprogram our way of thinking and how to deal with the emotional part of our being.
So how can we consider our "education" complete and efficient? From a universal perspective, it is not about building more schools and universities but to fully integrate the type of knowledge and information that is being taught to students, as well as an integrated preparation of teachers and professors to teach and instruct the masses constructively; thus, we need more quality and less quantity. That is why we cannot take our education system as real, efficient or absolute because of the amount of contradictions that exist within this concept. It is also important to keep in mind that many of the most brilliant minds of mankind never obtained a university degree or attended a school; so what does it truly mean to graduate from a university? It is totally irrelevant to brag and talk about how equipped and “set” we are or how well we are doing in our careers, when we still don’t have the basic understanding of our being in all areas of life. We live in a world where stress is a common thing, depression is everywhere, hate, resentment and greed are found in every corner. So how can we talk about our concept of education without having a solid foundation that backs it up completely? It is no secret that our educational system is designed to prepare people to work and nothing else. That’s why it’s crucially important to become aware of this reality so we can begin to educate ourselves in all levels.
A simple research, study and analysis in all fields of life alone, is what can lead to the expansion of our awareness and improve the quality of our reality in general. It is crucial that we realize and understand that a legit educational system is based on the preparation of an individual in all levels of his/her existence. Once we start to accept this truth, is when we will begin to gradually change our world positively. As soon as most of us fully comprehend how to reprogram our mindset, how to maintain an emotional balance and how to apply what we learn into our personal lives, our civilization will progress more significantly than it has been in the last few generations. The more balanced and well rounded we become as human beings, the less social, economic, political and environmental problems we will face in the long term. Instead of only giving importance to the preparation for our career skills, let’s also give the same value to our personal preparation. The secret lays in the combination of both spectrums so every single one of us can contribute to create the world that we all want.
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."
-Albert Einstein
"The greatest enemy of mankind is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge."
-Stephen Hawking
