I come across chunks of people every day who boldly claim they are “educated” because they matriculated in a school, spent 4,5 or 6 years, convocated and got a sheet of paper bearing their school logos, their names and a class of degree.
That is pretty Ok by me. I spent some 5 years in Akure and got a sheet of paper too. And I am still spending another 2 years to collect another sheet of paper.
What is not okay by me however are as follows;
1. The bulk of the 4,5, or 6 years was spent regurgitating old (and sometimes dead knowledge).
2. The fact that we have a sheet of paper to show we toiled some where for several years is not enough to shut our windows of knowlede to new knowledge and sometimes new wisdom.
3. Several of the “educated” ones amongst us are too educated to challenge the status quo, the will argue “Lion and Tiger” with you should you attempt to say something that negates what the 1970 and 1980 textbooks they used in school said.
One man came and told us an Atom is the smallest indivisible particle we have on earth. Well he was not lying. That was the smallest and best he could see.
Another man came and challenged the formers’ opinion. He found out an Atom actually contained Protons and Neutrons and Electrons.
With further probings, I am sure we will find out more.
One man came and told us the earth was flat, if we travelled far enough we will just fall into the abyss “danudanu”.
Another man came, questioned the former, observed other planets and said the earth is a spherical.
We are grateful to the Generation-Old for challenging the status quo enough to give us New Knowledge to devour in our Schools.
I do hope that the Generation-Next will find us worthy of gratitude too.
Final Thoughts;
The Educated ones amongst us are those who are bold enough to challenge the status quo. Those who are not afraid to LEARN, UNLEARN and RE-LEARN as occasion demands.
I am Seun Ogunmola I help People and Organizations to leverage on Technology to achieve their goals Faster, Easier and Cheaper.
I also write on diverse subject areas including Finance, Business, Productivity and Governance.