"What is the purpose of education?"

[JasonAlexander]

Melime i was reading your exellent blog post that presented the question, "What is the purpose of education?" and here is my opinion:

the purpose of education is not to amass knowledge in order to be able to recall by memory, but education is to familarize one as to where the answer is located. An average person is not able to mentally store the vast tomes of knowledge, but by regular study key points will be repetitiously impressed in order to later lead the way when the details are needed.

so education is not about remembering every thing studied but it is about learning to traverse immense networks of knowledge recorded since mankind began the journey of self-discovery and all that is contained within our domain of perception.

[geekchic9]

I wrote a slightly different version of this comment on Melime's blog:

I'm not attempting to speak for everyone, but this is my vision of an educated adult.

An educated adult knows the self, knows how to learn, and knows how to think. This is what I am aiming for in my self-education and in the education of my future children.

Is following a Latin centered curriculum the only way to become an educated adult? Let me go against the grain and say no. I do not believe it is the only way, but I believe it is the best and the most efficient way, and it is the way that has proven itself through the test of time.

Good luck to everyone who wishes to be educated through their pursuits. No matter how far you get, by attempting a classical education, you have attained much.

[Melime]

Thank you both for your opinions on this topic. I think you both make good points - education as the ability to find knowledge, and education as the ability to think.

An educated adult knows the self, knows how to learn, and knows how to think.
I particularly loved this comment, geekchic9. I think it is a wonderful condensed description of the goals of a classical education. I may have to write it down somewhere. ;) It also gives me something new to contemplate - how well I know myself.

I am in complete agreement with you that a Latin centred education is not the only way to get an education. I think there are certainly many roads to the goal of becoming an educated adult. However, some are more direct than others. ;) Anything that gets people to think though, can only be positive for their minds.

- I also replied to your comment on my blog, Jason. :)

[geekchic9]

I particularly loved this comment, geekchic9. I think it is a wonderful condensed description of the goals of a classical education. I may have to write it down somewhere. ;) It also gives me something new to contemplate - how well I know myself.


One of the biggest grievances in my childhood is that I had no clue who I was when I graduated high school. To some extent, everyone goes through this, but I believe I had it rougher than most. Most people have a clue about what they believe in and why and what they want to do with their lives. I simply let various authority figures in my life choose for me. Psychologists call it identity foreclosure, I think.

When those authority figures were gone, I was thinking, who am I and what am I all about? What do I believe in? What is my purpose in life? Are there any absolutes in life? The people at my public school were interested in none of those things -- they simply wanted me to read the material and spit it back out at them. No thinking required. So, when I went to college, I realized I had no clue. I wasted a lot of time and money on something that could have been prevented. My only saving grace was my boyfriend, who helped me in figuring myself out.

If I could do it all over again, I would have kept the boyfriend, but I would have transferred out of University and attend the tiny classical college next door. It has everything I'm looking for in a college: It's Catholic, it's traditionally classical, it would have been much cheaper, and I would have received a fine liberal arts education. Argh! I need to stop beating myself up for not making that decision. I did the best I could with what I knew at the time. Maybe one day I will have the time and money to go to that school. :( Until then, I will have to get my own self-education. *sighs*

[A Priori]

One thing that bothers me: Is it even possible to become educated as an adult, or is the mind too 'closed up' by then for it to progress through the natural grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages? Can adults even memorize math facts or parts of speech? Probably, but since they're learning so late, their manner of self-expression will suffer and might sound forced and mechanical instead of fluid, eloquent, and natural. I'm a bit of a pessimist by nature, though, and this nagging fear of mine is probably unfounded. Still, I can't think of a single famous autodidact who educated themselves in adulthood, and it makes my heart sink.

[JasonAlexander]

One thing that bothers me: Is it even possible to become educated as an adult, or is the mind too 'closed up' by then for it to progress through the natural grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages? Can adults even memorize math facts or parts of speech? Probably, but since they're learning so late, their manner of self-expression will suffer and might sound forced and mechanical instead of fluid, eloquent, and natural. I'm a bit of a pessimist by nature, though, and this nagging fear of mine is probably unfounded. Still, I can't think of a single famous autodidact who educated themselves in adulthood, and it makes my heart sink.

although some of your fears may hold truth it doesn't mean all is lost.

just like sports where adults have to accept declining physical abilities same for mental acuteness.

can an adult retain facts and absorb information as fast as a children who don't have a "cluttered mind" and everyday stress? Maybe not, but an adult can still learn.

my opinion is this, different situations for different people, for example one thing i envy of my wife is that she has very sharp eyes, i mean, wow, if i could see colors and recongnize faces and patterns as well as she could then what a gift. but, i have to deal with what i have to work with!

my suggestion is that a person who feels their ability to learn is declining then go get an evaluation and find out what strengths are still possesed then concentrate in those areas, for example as a person gets older they may learn more because of the keen ability to write essays, or lecture. Take advantage of strengths and don't worry about weaknesses.

i'm sorry dear friend but we all must deal with a body that has period of peak performance (mentally and physically) and then the decline!

(:eek: yikes i'm almost into mid-life crisis, a few more years and i'll be climbing over-the-hill)

blessings,
Jay

[Mungo]

There is one great advantage that adult learners have over most children: if they're taking the trouble to educate themselves, it's because they want to learn. They are self-motivated; no one is forcing them or threatening them with a bad grade or a black mark on their "permanent record." ;)

If it's any help, I've taught German to students from age 6 to age 76, the bulk of them your age (college). I volunteered in an adult literacy program; the learner I helped was in her 50s, but after a year of tutoring she was able to read her Bible. A friend once taught an elderly man classical Greek so that he could fulfill his final wish - to read Homer in the original before he died. I have studied Irish, Latin, Greek, Middle High German, and a little bit of Hebrew as an adult. I continue to work on my Latin and Greek and may soon begin at least basic Ukrainian so that I can better participate in a church choir. I'm rapidly approaching 40. At 18, you have, God willing, many years of learning ahead of you. After all, if students weren't capable of learning new material at 18, why would they bother to go to college? Take courage! :)