Knowledge Is Not Wisdom by Nathaniel

Knowledge Is Not Wisdom by Nathaniel - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

An education is not simply the absorption of material from textbooks or professors. An educated person is not simply a person that can regurgitate information that has been imprinted on their brain. An educated population is not simply a society that has an elevated IQ. Education goes beyond the academia. Education is alive. Education is a resident of our very surroundings. To educate oneself, he must have the ability to apply knowledge, regardless of its origins, to his actions, environment, and situations. He must take what he knows, and understand how it can be of use, as a solution or as a launching point, to expand his knowledge. That is to gain wisdom. A wise person is an educated person. Knowledge can simply mean the collection of facts, but wisdom is knowing what to do with those facts. An educated person takes knowledge to discover and expand upon what else the world, or universe, has to offer.

That is the purpose of an education: the discovery and expansion of knowledge. To simpleminded cynics, education’s purpose is solely to serve us by allowing us to obtain a higher paying job, but that is an incredibly corrupt view. The purpose of education is to advance us in unimaginable directions. Just a few generations ago, our current technological advancements were figments of imagination in the minds of science fiction writers. We, as an entire species, are where we are today thanks to the hunger for more—a hunger fed by education. Our previous generations held knowledge, but they were not satisfied. They kept pushing for more, they kept studying, they kept learning, they kept educating. Now, we have little rectangles in our pockets that harness more power than computers that landed us on the moon in the 60’s. Now, we are exploring another entire planet with a robot, which is soon to be followed by a group of flesh and blood astronauts. If we, at any point in time, sat back and accepted our technological advancement as the limit of our abilities, progress is dead. Education is dead. The purpose for education is dead.

For we, as a species, to continue our progress, we require education. For education’s purpose is to advance knowledge. The advancement of knowledge leads to a brighter tomorrow. Growing content with our position in our progress, would prove detrimental to the generations that follow. If we seek to educate ourselves, we instill a sense of purpose within those that we precede—a purpose driven by the growth of knowledge. Education empowers our growth, without it, we will fail as a people.