Why do we study? What is the point of the educational process? Do we need to learn, and how do you feel about the concept of lifelong learning?
First of all, I would like to begin with stories related to successful but uneducated people, contrary to our theme.
Such people include:
Ingvar Kamprad
The founder of the largest company IKEA has always been positively assessed by his close friends and acquaintances, but, as the entrepreneur himself claimed, he is an undereducated man. Ingvar had no higher education, but as a child, he was already selling Christmas toys, stationery, and even fish.
Henry Ford
The famous automobile industrialist ran away from home at the age of 16, moved to Detroit, and began working as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company. As many analysts have noted, Henry Ford had the gift of a brilliant manager along with engineering ability.
Michael Dell
The founder of Dell Computers became one of the richest people on the planet with no higher education. Already at the age of eight, the future businessman discarded the desire to finish high school, not to mention higher education – there were plenty of life plans.
All of these people were able to achieve great success without higher education, but analyzing the stories under consideration, one can notice that each successful person is goal-oriented, has ideas, and has good communication and organizational skills. The relevance of these qualities is not lost today, but the presence of a diploma of higher education as a determining factor in hiring is questioned more and more often. Let’s try to understand whether it is necessary to study or not.
First, let’s agree on the division of education itself into two types:
- Academic (learning that involves classes in high school, university, receiving a large amount of theoretical material and information);
“I need to master, to learn certain material to pass the exam. I’ll get my diploma, I’ll be able to work and earn money.
- Practical (training aimed at obtaining some specific skills, and abilities).
“I need to learn this to apply my knowledge in practice, to get some concrete material result.”
Analyzing the characteristics of both types of learning, we can tend to believe that the second type (hands-on learning) is more productive, useful, and rational. In principle, the success stories prove this. But it turns out that academic education also carries several advantages. We propose to consider them.
Self-Discipline
Of course, everyone without exception has to fight procrastination, laziness, and reluctance to work hard and long, but the process of learning spurs us on to a large extent and forces us to do homework, read books, solve problems, etc.
Developing Thinking
Mathematics gives the ability to think logically and rationally, literature – literacy, the ability to be an interesting conversationalist and express their views, history trains memory and makes a person erudite, physical education takes care of health and elementary physical fitness, etc. That is, each subject, even without being necessary for you, in one way or another reveals facets of your personality and allows you to look at the world with a clearer and more open view.
Developing erudition for authority
Agree, it is quite prestigious to be a reading, interested person today. If you do not know the difference between the Great Patriotic War and World War II, then your interlocutors will not consider you an educated person, but such elementary knowledge is acquired already in school. So the study is worth at least to appear their authority in the eyes of others.
The ability to see a situation from a different point of view
As has already been said, thanks to training you look at the world more clearly, from different angles, and this gives you the fundamentally important ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes, to imagine what they are going through and what feelings and thoughts they may be experiencing right now. It turns out that to some extent education develops empathy, which will undoubtedly help anyone in life (especially influenced by literature, where we get acquainted with a large number of different characters).
As you can see, academic education is mainly aimed at expanding the framework by which our minds are constrained by nature. The study of the rules and laws of life helps us to gain a kind of conscious freedom, as well as, in a certain sense, to overcome ourselves. Nevertheless, today special importance is given to practical training because trends in the labor market are changing, and society is rapidly progressing, which leads to the education of new professions and skills.
Let’s highlight some of these trends “Why do we study”.
The development of the freelance sector
According to statistics, about 35% of the working population in the United States work as freelancers, and 78% of Britons believe that freelancing helps best solve the problem of work-life balance.
The era of in-demand skills
Because the majority of the population leans towards freelancing, the person needs to constantly learn new skills that will provide them with additional competitiveness, distinguishing them from other freelancers.
The “Me” brand.
Every person in today’s world is becoming a commodity in a sense. We learn how to position ourselves, show the right side of ourselves, and acquire useful and in-demand skills, all to sell the “Me” product for a higher price, to find a job with the possibility of good career growth.
Additional training
In today’s world, it’s important not to dwell on your first degree, which is devalued by employers when hiring because they are increasingly stating that they don’t care about a degree. What is important? The initiative, additional certifications, courses completed, real-world skills, and competitions, are things that characterize you as someone who seeks self-education and additional training.
Population aging
The seemingly aging population trend is purely demographic, but it directly affects the job market. By raising the retirement age, the working population expands at the expense of those who are younger than the new retirement age bars, so the life cycle of a worker increases, and time, as you know, does not stand still. Therefore, people of age have to retrain and gain new competencies.
Incidentally, this information is supported by statistics from the World Trade Organization (WTO), namely:
- The average age of a worker worldwide will increase to 41 years in 10 years;
- In 10 years, there will be two young workers working for one retiree (instead of three as now).
One simple thought follows from the above trends: it is necessary to learn. Absolutely. And especially relevant today is the concept of lifelong education (life-long education), which implies constant development and improvement, expanding the list of mastered competencies, professional development, and acquisition of new skills.
Moreover, today everyone has the opportunity to “educate themselves” without leaving home, to learn a lot of useful information while sitting in front of a screen. Educational platforms such as Khan Academy, Udemy, Coursera, OpenEdu, School 21, and others can help. We recommend that you visit one of the platforms and find something to your liking. This will greatly improve your competitiveness in the labor market.
That’s why do we study.
