Do people go to university because they are so interested in something that they want to be taught by people who know more about it or who are possibly experts on such things? If I went to university that would be my highest priority. The problem with the idea for me is that i’m not so sure every professor is as competent as they should be. I also doubt whether all of them are there for the motive of passing their vast knowledge onto new minds. I suspect many teachers just do their work because it’s a job or if not that then even though they might be experts in their field, doesn’t mean they are good at teaching. Of course in some schools, there are great professors who understand what teaching is all about.
I think many people go study for different reasons. The most common reason is that they do it because they think that it is what you are supposed to do if you want to have a successful life. I have a feeling that many of my friends who are studying have no interest in what they are doing. They have no intrinsic motives in being there. It’s all about status (having a ‘proper’ education) and getting a well payed job in the future for security. Of course there are probably those who are really hungry for the knowledge but from what I can tell, they are a minority.
In many countries it costs to go to a good university and usually these costs aren’t low. Is this fair for smart kids who really want to become great doctors or scientists or even if they have the exterior motives I mentioned before but have not the money to enroll? I think it’s pretty strange. Of course I understand that the great universities e.g. Harvard, Oxford, etc have to keep their status and maintain the high level which I would guess they fund with the student’s money. But why does that kind of system favour rich kids who probably aren’t any smarter or likelier to become Nobel prize winners.
If you do seek knowledge and happen to have money, in my opinion you can get a much better education by doing it on your own terms. You can buy the best books written by the greatest scientists and nowadays even lectures on dvd and dvds of all kinds of documentaries which i’m sure will get you farther than waste time with pointless exams and teachers and students who shouldn’t even be there. In fact, you don’t even need much money to do that. With a few thousand dollars, you can get many years worth of stuff to study. Sure, you won’t get a Phd but you will probably actually learn more about everything. I am currently doing this and I find it to be very rewarding. I have no higher purpose to this than just the desire to know more about myself, my surrounding, my species, where I am from, what is happening, etc. The more I learn, the more I want to learn. I am a knowledge junkie. One day, if I have the money to do it, I will enroll in a great university and hopefully be much more equipped to take full advantage of the privilage in studying there.
My critique is against the fact that so many people do things and even live their whole lives for not themselves, but other people. This brings problems like depression, anxiety and any other kind of emotional stress if not now, then later in life. There are many studies to prove this but all you need to do is look around at the people you spend your days with. Rarely, I meet a person who seems to truly be in balance. If I do meet them, I usually realize this much later on because I was so caught up in my own world at the time that I didn’t know how to appreciate it.
Living a life where every step is just taken to get to the next will never bring fullfilment because fullfilment is always out of reach. To get a good degree is to get a good job. To get a good job is to get payed well and have status. To have money and status gives you a chance to meet people who are rich and have status. But where is the point where you become rich and not poor? Is this really only determined by money? When is the point where recognition and status begin? Yes, having money enables to do certain things you woulnd’t otherwise do but when will you start doing those things? I don’t mean that having money is meaningless but what I am saying is that being rich and having money isn’t the same thing. The ability to enjoy life has nothing to do with money. Having money just enables you to do things that you couldn’t do without it. Are these things any more important, I very much doubt.
I truly believe that living a good life is about the ‘way’ you do it. It’s not about what you accomplish and how much money you earn and how expensive your lifestyle is. Money is not a threat to people who know how to live. But money to a person who seeks it because they think it will help them have a better life, can corrupt to the point of no return.
A question I like to ask myself and other people, are you living or are you dying?
