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| The 'Discovery' prepares to boldly go... |
For one thing, is it not obvious even to the people who do
not, somehow, enjoy learning that it is a profitable enterprise? Invest in your mind, and the final result
will pay sizeable dividends. Moving on
from a metaphor founded in my limited understanding of the world of ‘stocks and
shares’, I should like to reiterate plainly that learning pays. It is a statistical probability that individuals
who are educated to a higher level will secure employment with better
salaries. Of course, this is not always
the case, but the odds are highly favourable.
Additionally, learning can be a real pleasure. Quite aside from the fact that a better
education is financially advantageous, the process of learning itself can,
along with the resultant possession of knowledge – the real global
currency – be a genuine joy. I,
certainly, love to delve into the seldom-trodden lands whose murky secrets are
concealed between crisp, sharp pages and nestled in the protective arms of a
reassuringly predictable dust-cover. Who
would refuse such a chance? To step in
the footsteps of truly great people, heroes, icons, without ever having
to abdicate one’s armchair... The concept
itself, of vicarious discovery, is quite spectacular, and made all the more so
for its accessible simplicity.
Clearly, then, we can see how to learn is (to issue a
drastic understatement) a good thing.
A solid education can set you in good stead for the rest of your life,
not to mention the potential it offers for an enjoyable experience from an
almost inexhaustible source; human imagination, wonderful in its ingenuity,
shall go on dreaming for as long as the species survives, and so long as there
are people to dream they will record their fantastical wonderings. Thus, inexhaustible.
Perhaps you remain unconvinced? Surely this is all posturing, showy glitter
and bravado to sway you toward my own indulgence? Perhaps – but I do not think so. Humans have evolved a delicate language,
hiding behind cruder utterances the finer nuances and elegance offered by an
array of tongues that is possibly the most spectacular achievement of our
juvenile species... But that is a matter for discussion at another time. My point stands that we are the commanders of
a stunning tool, a perfect contradiction of one of its most skilled wielders;
Mr. Oscar Wilde. “...beauty,
real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins.” To make reference to a moderately popular
current panel show, this is, in fact, a lie. It is in our very natures to communicate
knowledge of value to one another, and if every eventuality is considered then
only one conclusion can possibly be reached: All knowledge is valuable,
and it stands to reason therefore that we ought really to share in it.
All men (and women, for all you feminists out there!) as
equals, intellectually matched and engaged in the creation of a world order
that may at least attempt to fulfil the ambitious ideals of the global
population. This, surely, would
be “the best of all possible worlds”?
Aware as I am of the inherently flawed nature of our volatile species
and the tempestuous heart of each individual who forms its ranks, I am made
also unhappily conscious of the fact that this dream, magnificent though it may
seem, is terribly unlikely to come to fruition.
But, perhaps if everyone at least tried...
It is with this ponderous contemplation that I must
conclude, but I do urge you to think on it carefully. It is true, what I say. Knowledge is, as the old adage goes, truly
the source of all power – and this must be gained by learning. Learning is the way of this species, and it
takes only the realisation of this reality to benefit from its validity. Good day.
