It was recently explained to me by the Dean of Continuing Education at a prominent American University that Education is, by nature, synthetic knowledge. Unlike Training, which is experienced knowledge, education is knowledge which, at some point, was training for another person. That is to say that someone else discovered it to be true, then “educated” the receiver in a synthetic way.
The industrialized world operates on this system of synthetic knowledge. This system operates on the basis that it is not possible for a single person to experience and understand all aspects of reality. Surly this is true when it comes to fields like Genetics. It has been said that we stand on the shoulders of giants. That is to say that we have not discovered all of our knowledge on our own, but simply built upon what others have learned. Geneticists build upon the discoveries of those who discovered before them in order to progress the field.
I would like to suggest that this system is incapable of discovering reality. It is only fair, if I wish to make that statement, that I define “reality.” If you wish to read about what I mean by reality read my post about it. It was originally discussed here but was split up due to length. I have already admitted that education has merit in the pursuit of knowledge, and I am not a religious fanatic who “hates science.”
What if someone down the line was wrong? What if one or more of those giants on which we stand was wrong? The educational system is much like a secluded tribal community. When a group of people decide what is true for a larger body of people we inbreed our knowledge like a secluded tribe inbreeds their genes. When people are not able to discover truth on there own we open ourselves up to harsh corruption. One does not have to think very hard before coming up with examples of this. Religious leaders constantly tell their adherents what their holy books say and educate them on how to understand what they read. This has lead to thousands of cults throughout history. A favorite example of mine is Christopher Columbus; He was educated to know that the Earth was flat, good thing for us he decided to escape the system of education and find out for himself. He learned that they were wrong, and that this inbred synthetic knowledge was false. Galileo did the same, too bad for him they killed him for it.
I would like to suggest that formal education traps the mind into the box of which so many say we should be thinking out side. Our perception of reality is shaped by our surroundings and our thoughts. Would you like to be told what life is like? Or would you like to discover what life is like? In America we educate our young people for the first 18 to 30 years of their lives about what life is. We have decided that it is better to be told what life is than to actually live it. We are educated to be able to function in our society, living under the rule of popular opinion and cooperate thought. After we spend 25% to 50% of our lives learning what the box is we are released to explore inside it. If you leave the box, you are a crazy fanatic. If history has taught us anything, it is that we kill people who discover truth outside the box.
