An Almost Philosophical Take on Education as a Means to Answering the Ultimate Question by Shahayra

An Almost Philosophical Take on Education as a Means to Answering the Ultimate Question by Shahayra - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

A good education allows for very fundamental communication and expression, along with the ability to reason. These consequences of an education result in the social development of a person. They are the basic results of any proper education, providing a person with the tools necessary for successful decision-making and interaction. With a good education, one is able to exercise rationality and develops the curiosity to ask advancing questions. The purpose of an education must, therefore, be to give you enough understanding of the world in order to grant you the capacity to advance it.

At an elementary level, education opens the doors toward higher-order thinking and expression. Those who lack the ability to read and write simply have no means of learning or practicing, as the human brain will inevitably consume words once it learns how. There is a reason literacy is the mark of an educated man – with literacy comes an unlimited access to knowledge and a potential for an education in any area desired. Readers cultivate concepts they read and store them should they ever need to be applied, such is the nature and purpose of learning. Literacy is the beginnings of an education, and apart from simply passing on information, it allows the spread of ideas. In this way, not only does literacy give people understanding of the world, but it also allows them to drive it.

Venturing beyond education’s purpose of allowing for heightened communication, education allows for the greater self-awareness necessary for logical reasoning, which developed as a consequence of better communication skills as well. Through both spoken and written word people have spread inquiries and discoveries to answer those inquiries, and inquiries newly sprung again from the very same discoveries. Basic observational skills are enhanced through the inherently inquisitive nature in humans spurred by an exchange of questions, now possible with the literacy gained from having an education. Curiosity, fueled by conversation, fuels investigation and eventually one refines the skills to logically examine marginal costs and benefits.

Literacy and the ability to rationalize are both key to social development, which therefore also arises with an education. This is a common phenomenon seen in any environment with a gathering of people, particularly in academic situations. Take young elementary school students, for example, as they begin to write, they develop greater sense of self, and as they begin to read, they become more aware of their surroundings. Of course, close interaction with peers at a similar stage in life who are also developing the same skills influences this matter, but only insomuch that they learn together whilst simultaneously growing socially.

An education gives one exposure to new ideologies and allows understanding and relation to others. The understanding of the world that comes with heightened knowledge allows for further expansion in the established body of knowledge. Then, finally, what is the point of further expansion? Of knowledge? Of an education? It is simply to find an answer to the ultimate question of those with consciousness, which is, really, what is the purpose?