How important do you believe education and knowledge is?

by new hope and happiness 56 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  snare&racket

  Even things we think are of no use are in fact useful.

  Random, difficult math, when we learn it, forms new neuronal pathways in our brain. Those problem solving pathways may prove useful when problem solving other issues, be it managing people, looking for a pattern in a faulty piece of equipment...etc etc.

  Our brains absorb and restructure based on what it experiences. By forcing our brains to do math or geography or physics or language etc etc we are making neural connections that have many, many usefull traits. It isn't just about the facts and skills we learn when doing these things, we are literally rewiring our brains when we do so.
• 

  Mephis

  Education is the process, not the end result. Mine doesn't stop. Keeping in touch with the latest ideas within my field is essential. I also learned how to hang wallpaper properly last week which was equally as useful.

  Was fortunate in some ways to have hit the right age when a formal academic education (in theory at least) was a matter of conscience much more so than it is now so I took that option because I had absolutely no desire to get married, nor of pioneering, nor of taking up a building trade to provide free labour to WTBTS. There's a terrible confusion in the WTBTS where they've managed to delude themselves that an academic education has become the cause of people leaving and so they've loaded up on all the supposed negatives. I'd have left regardless. Of my peers, one out of the 11 is currently still in and none of them went further than high school. But it was my education which did it? Nah. Asking questions was what did it; wanting to learn about new things was how I was born.

  An academic education may not be for everyone. At university level, it's very expensive and you will likely have debt from it in many countries. On the flipside, it opens up a lot of opportunities which otherwise are either much harder or impossible to have. And I personally found it a huge help in growing up as an individual, having self-reliance, as well as the skills which came from researching, writing and discussing, living abroad to study, getting into music A&R for a period and making many friends from all kinds of backgrounds. Learning so many new things was good too. Also beer and girls but beer and girls were present away from university too.

  Not pushing my children too hard to try and do the same route. They'll have their own views on what they wish to do when they leave school. But would never put them off it either, even if it isn't a traditionally vocationally relevant subject. They hit 18, their choice, their life and I'll support as best I can. My major hang-ups are when people get denied the opportunity to make an informed choice about something rather than how many or few letters are after their name.
• 

  sparrowdown

  To many people in this world higher education or even basic lteracy, is a luxury they will never experience, for women, and the poor in particular.

  So anybody that is able to access education on any level I say do it!
• 

  Julia Orwell

  Education is the best asset or gift a community can have because it frees people from ignorance and makes people live longer and better lives.
• 

  jhine

  SonoftheTrinity ,I agree with you wholeheartedly , and all the people who have said that intelligence and creativity come in many forms and we all need each other's skills and talents .

  Because of family circumstances I have worked waiting on tables and serving in shops and have experienced intelluctual snobbery , as just the waitress or just the shop girl. Yet I was probably better educated than some of the people I was serving meals to .

  Jan

  p.s so be kind to the next person who brings your steak dinner or sells you a tin of beans !!
• 

  Fernando

  "i think a humble disposition and humor is a greater attraction than education and vocabulry"

  True.

  At the same time education has the potential to make us less vulnerable to deception, manipulation and propaganda.

  Yet, some rather intelligent and educated people still get snared by cults like the Watchtower.
• 

  LongHairGal

  DJS:

  I agree with your post. I don't like educated snobs either but I especially don't like uneducated, prideful people (of the JW variety). They are arrogant with nothing to back it up.

  There recently was a thread about somebody who complained about people on this board who make fun of "janitors" or "window washers". I saw his point and there is nothing shameful about doing jobs like that, other than the low pay.

  While I realize that somebody who has an education is not better or superior (no matter what they think about themselves), I do see the value of having an education for an elder in the religion or anybody else in a responsible position. If you contrast a JW born-in type with NO education versus one with a college education, the JW with the college education is more likely to know how the world works and is also likely to know if he is out of his depth. Whereas the one with no college education and who thinks all he needs are the religion's publications is likely to march headlong into disaster.

  However, I personally love learning and reading and think that in this day and age college is unfortunately necessary in the job market as opposed to years ago when it was not. I have some community college and technical training. However, I did fine and could probably have been a high school dropout because it didn't make any difference in my case.

  Things are different today and the playing field has changed, so college is necessary. However, let us not forget that IT is a big business promoting its own agenda.
• 

  jgnat

  I am getting ready to move, so did some scrubbing around the house today. My time as a cleaning lady really came in handy (Did the work smartly with a minimum of effort. The appliances sparkle.)

  Learning to play chess has paid off over and over. That game taught me to consider consequences two or three moves in advance. Because of this training, I've rarely been blindsided at work. Those people who pegged me as an easy target were sadly disappointed. Some of them still don't know how I foiled their nefarious plans. I saw them coming, duh!

  So all experience and training pays off.
• 

  Oubliette

  Or to put it another way: Why would anyone (assuming they had a choice) deliberately choose to be ignorant and uneducated?
• 

  Band on the Run

  I was denied an education as part of systemic abuse. My very life was in danger. I' spent countless hours learning. Sometimes I over studied and crt so hard.People who don't value a common core of. Lib eral arts or critical thinking throw tantrums. AS much as I value learning, character is far more important. Civilly. Zi zzz more importantp

  Pls e xcuse the typos. My wi fi is down.