Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Reflections on the proper role of self-education



“Never let your schooling interfere with your education.”

– Possibly a paraphrase of author Grant Allen, although it is often misattributed to Mark Twain

Not all learning is done in a classroom …

One of the saddest things I’ve seen is when people have no curiosity. They may suppose that they’ve learned everything that they need to know, and that they don’t need to learn any more. I don’t think that everyone needs to keep reading textbooks (although I like to do this myself), but I think that people should continue to learn long after they leave school. Fortunately, not all learning is done in a classroom – many life experiences can be educational in some way. You can learn some things in the real world that you would never learn in a classroom. And you can keep reading and keep thinking, and be open to what life has to teach you.


Me when I graduated from Yavapai College, which is now my employer


I have a bachelor’s degree, but I am also a great believer in self-education

Perhaps I should disclose my own level of formal education, so that people will know where I’m coming from here. I graduated from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. My concentration was in marketing, and my minor (technically a certificate) was in business economics. But I never got anything beyond the bachelor’s degree level. I may or may not have been intellectually capable of handling grad school, but I believe that either way, I would have gone nuts under the strain – and I say this literally! Fortunately, I’ve been able to continue my studies after graduating from college. As I mentioned earlier, I like to read textbooks, and I’ve been studying some dead languages in my spare time as well. Specifically, I’ve been learning Ancient Greek (as I describe here), and Biblical Hebrew (as I will describe in a later post). I agree with these words from Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “If formal education is not available, do not allow that to prevent you from acquiring all the knowledge you can. Under such circumstances, the best books, in a sense, can become your ‘university’—a classroom that is always open and admits all who apply.” (Source: A talk given in 2009) Incidentally, I include within the term “college” any vocational or trade school. As someone who majored in business, I recognize the value of good vocational programs, and what they contribute to our economy.


Dieter F. Uchtdorf, whom I quote above

Some people should go to college, while others don’t need to – and can learn in other ways

Sometimes formal education is out of reach because of cost. Other times, it is out of reach because of a lack of ability to handle it – and, in the case of graduate school, I count myself in this category, due to the aforementioned problems with the stress. Other times, it is within reach, but may be a poor fit for people who just don’t like school. I completely understand people not liking school – at times, I wasn’t that crazy about it myself. And I believe that there are other ways to learn than being in a classroom. It may not be popular in certain circles to say it, but I believe that college is sometimes oversold. Some seem to believe that college is good for everyone. It is good for some people, and I know that it was good for me. But there are others who don’t need it, and who can learn plenty in other ways. Some seem to believe that people haven’t “realized their potential” if they “fail” to go to college. Some may even look down upon people who have refused opportunities to go to college. Obviously, there is a certain elitism in this, which is unfortunate. But more to the point, it is dismissive of the value of life experiences, and what they can teach people. As I mentioned earlier, you can learn things in the real world that you would never learn in a classroom, and some of them are as valuable (or more valuable) than the best parts of formal education.


The building at Yavapai College where I work as a tutor

I can understand why people are suspicious of institutions of higher learning …

That being said, there are others who are at the opposite extreme, and are dismissive of the value of formal education. In fairness, they have more reason to be suspicious today than they did in previous generations. Frankly, much of what universities teach today is utter nonsense, if I may be so bold. Particularly in certain university departments, gullible students get their heads filled with mush, and accept this mush uncritically. Universities have the power to teach critical thinking, but seldom does it seem that they actually do so. Sometimes, what they instead teach is unquestioning obedience to the various fads of the ivory tower. Particularly in these classes, one would do well to heed the advice (whoever said it) to “Never let your schooling interfere with your education.” In this context, one could translate that as “Never let a professor’s pronouncements overrule the suggestions of your own good sense.” Ideas should be judged on their own merits, not by what authority endorses them – as I show in another post. And given the many errors being peddled today by higher education, people are right to be suspicious of the institution at times.


Aristotle, whom I quote below

… but there is value to college for those who want to go (and there are other ways to learn)

But with all this, there is much good coming out of formal education, particularly when people learn to hear out its various bad ideas before rejecting them – although I should acknowledge that it has many good ones, too. (More about that in other posts.) As Aristotle said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” People have a right to be skeptical of fallacious or unsupported ideas, but they would still do well to hear them out before they determine whether the ideas have merit. Fortunately, this skill can be acquired outside of a classroom by reading about various issues, or following a variety of news sources. (And I freely admit that I don’t follow many news sources of any kind these days, since I’m usually immersed in history instead.) So much can be learned by getting informed about local, national, and world events. Some research suggests that news consumers are more educated than the national average. With this said, one would do well to be skeptical of certain things coming out of the news media; but you might still learn a lot from listening to them anyway.


Frederick Douglass, an inspiring example of self-education

The difference between intelligence and education, with some inspiring anecdotes

Finally, let me return to the difference between intelligence and education. There was a time when many African Americans were denied even basic formal schooling, because they were (unfortunately) legally held as slaves. Many, such as Frederick Douglass, were forbidden even to learn to read – a story that I detail here. But we would rightly condemn anyone who suggested that these folks were “stupid,” or even that they were “uneducated.” Frederick Douglass secretly taught himself to read (as I show in that same post), and was soon reading books and newspapers with great enthusiasm. He secretly taught other slaves how to read, too, and then became well-informed about the various issues of his time. To call Frederick Douglass “uneducated” would be a mistake, as anyone who’s read his eloquent memoir knows. He was extremely intelligent and well-informed, and his book is a testament to the power of self-education. Abraham Lincoln is another good example of self-education, as I show in the footnote to this blog post. He studied the law by reading law books for himself, and became a lawyer by so doing. To give a brief quote from him, he said that he “studied with nobody.” (see source) This was the norm among lawyers in his day, and reading one’s schoolbooks for oneself has a place even in formal educational contexts.


Abraham Lincoln, another classic example of self-education

Conclusion: Our school system should prepare people to become lifelong learners

Self-education comes from reading, writing, and reflection (and ‘rithmetic, if you were expecting to hear that word). It comes from homework at all levels of school, and particularly from institutions of higher learning. It is a part of both formal and informal education. Our school system should prepare people to become lifelong learners, and to continue learning long after they’ve graduated with a diploma or degree. I suppose that William Butler Yeats put it best when he said that “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” That applies to the best learning in classrooms, and it also applies with the best of self-education.

Footnote: An anecdote about Abraham Lincoln’s self-education

I earlier promised an anecdote about Abraham Lincoln’s self-education. Thus, let me jump right into this story: A young man named Isham Reavis once wrote a letter to Lincoln in 1855. Reavis asked Lincoln if he could “read law” with him (or words to that effect). Lincoln was by then a former Congressman, but he was not yet a presidential candidate. Lincoln’s answer was as follows:

“I am [away] from home too much of my time, for a young man to read law with me advantageously. If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already. It is but a small matter whether you read with any body or not. I did not read with any one. Get the books, and read and study them till, you understand them in their principal features; and that is the main thing. It is of no consequence to be in a large town while you are reading. I read at New-Salem, which never had three hundred people living in it. The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places. Mr. Dummer is a very clever man and an excellent lawyer (much better than I, in law-learning); and I have no doubt he will cheerfully tell you what books to read, and also loan you the books … Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.” (Source: Letter to Isham Reavis, 5 November 1855)

This passage speaks volumes about Abraham Lincoln’s legal education. As I show in another of my blog posts, Lincoln also did much of his reading in the great outdoors, under the shade of an oak tree – far away from the formality of any classroom.

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