Vic Smith wrote:
On Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:33:08 -0400, H the K
wrote:

Tom Francis - SWSports wrote:

I've always been of the opinion that "education" is really curiosity
and that formal education is merely a process by which information is
presented in ways that provide some order to the process and is not
essential for one to be "educated". Some of the smartest people I've
ever dealt with have high school educations, but are well and widely
read, have sound knowledge of basic mathematics (arithmetic, geometry
and trigonometry) and an insatiable curiosity about the world the
surrounds them and what goes on in it.

A good formal education is an indicator for many of intellectual
curiosity. It is much more than "merely a process."

While no one can deny the intellectual and worldly success of the
self-taught in many fields, the fact is that a college degree is at the
very least a rough indicator that its "owner" had enough self-discipline
to stick with a course of study, and satisfy the intellectual
requirements and standards for graduation.

At its best, a good formal liberal arts education forces you to think
way outside the box, and exposes you to ideas and people whose
backgrounds and thoughts are very different from yours.

If you are self-taught, *you* are the individual in charge of
determining what you expose yourself to during the process of learning.
If you go the formal route, there are many who can guide you, as
teachers, as colleagues, as fellow students, as group experiences.

As you said, learning the wide scope of different world/cultural
experience, which is always formatted into a liberal arts curriculum
to some degree, is the important aspect.
What any individual derives from such an education it is highly
individual and varied.
My view is that if you can't widely analogize in the end, it's
somewhat of a failure. The ultimate goal is to come to an
understanding of a universal consciousness, if only momentarily.
It is not forgotten.
This always involves what we can call a Zen element, as an easily and
fairly widely "understood" term for that type of understanding.
Though some allowances can be made for one's physical appearance and
verbal skills, a good measure of success in your liberal arts
education is how well you can apply what you've learned toward scoring
with hot smart chicks.
Of course if you forego the education, money works just as well.

--Vic



Woody Guthrie had that understanding of universal consciousness, the
night he saw the movie "The Grapes of Wrath."

His song "Tom Joad" has the following lines:

"Ever'body might be just one big soul,
Well it looks that a-way to me.
Everywhere that you look, in the day or night,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma,
That's where I'm a-gonna be.

"Wherever little children are hungry and cry,
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a-gonna be."


The book, the movie, and the song have a lot to say to Americans today,
especially as more and more are "tractored out by the Cats."