The Importance of Education

I’m going to play my own devil’s advocate here on this social responsibility tip, because I can. So bear with me. We all know the importance of education in society at large. It’s not some radical liberal cause here or anything: both conservatives and liberals will agree. The basics of it are simple: the more educated you are, generally, the better job you’ll get and the better you’ll be able to provide for you and yours. And the side-effects are great, too: learning about other cultures and societies helps you understand more people. Learning solid math skills helps keep you from messing up your bill payments. Knowing your history helps prevent you from repeating it. Studying up on countercultural and artistic movements opens your eyes to new perspectives. All those things, great. Now for the devil’s advocate part: can too much education mess you up, too, like an over-bred poodle or an MIT nerd that’s so socially underdeveloped he can’t even get a job? Or how’s this: do we transpose education with understanding too readily? You can certainly be super-educated but still really moronic, in other words. And also, some people believe that we take away the beauty of things by trying so hard to compartmentalize everything. I guess I’m just asking: can education be a bad thing? Ok I guess I just gave my own answer, but I’d like to hear yours, and if your answer is yes, I’d like to hear the particulars, please. Go slow. I ain’t so edumuhcayted over here. Ok I guess I just gave my own answer on this social responsibility issue, but I’d like to hear yours, and if your answer is yes, I’d like to hear the particulars, please.