School is for Dummies

Have you ever heard the term "uneducated"?

It is typically a condescending term directed toward individuals who, for some reason or other never made it to college. It is a term that sticks in our cultural conscience as something true, or undeniable. It leads us to believe that those who have been to college are smarter than those who have not.

In part, this is a major shortcoming of the school system in the United States. The thinking leads the pompous college graduate into thinking that they are "educated" and intellectually superior to those who have not been to college. Ironically this nurtures a line of thinking that may lead to the arrest of the individual's post-school development.

The US school system is geared to teach children so that they can intellectually mature into adults and become productive participants of society. The underlying purpose is understood as getting an education to serve us in our life long career path. This process has worked ok in the past, but it puts the emphasis in development for our final purpose as a career person who is employable. Once graduation has been completed and we are comfortably in our job, we tend to shy away from further learning and development. There just isn't time anymore to study topics of interest to us, thus post-school development never happens.

We now live in a new era. Technology is expanding exponentially. Jobs and entire careers are outdated in a matter of a few years. Companies are no longer loyal to their employees. In today's world, to survive, we must continually be learning and developing intellectually. The new "uneducated" may now be the college graduate that became complacent and stopped learning after college, now finding him or herself out of a job because it had been outsourced overseas. The old way of thinking no longer aligns with the new way of living and keeping up with a changing world. Preparing for change with an uncertain future by developing our minds into intellectual greatness is the only surefire way to stay ahead of the game.

By learning about history and where we came from, to how people adapt in times of great change such as war and revolution, we can equip ourselves to better deal with the monumental changes that are certain to come in the future.

How big is your library?