| For prospective college students contemplating | | | | will have entered the world view of pragmatism. |
| taking online college courses, there are a lot of | | | | Pragmatism holds that one should judge the |
| questions concerning the point of higher education. | | | | efficacy of one's actions by their consequences. |
| Therefore, it is an excellent idea to have an | | | | This view focuses on the practical: If you do such |
| intelligent articulation handy when college students | | | | and such, you predict that such and such an |
| ask about the value of a college education. | | | | outcome will follow. In moral terms, it is like |
| Socrates, you may recall, asserted that the | | | | utilitarianism. If you do not pay your rent, you |
| unexamined life is not worth living. Contrast this | | | | may be brought to court and fined. Further, you |
| with the notion that ignorance is bliss. If you are | | | | can be evicted. These are the negative outcomes |
| not aware of your ignorance should this be | | | | of your choice. Applying this reasoning to |
| corrected? Is education that which enables you to | | | | education runs something like this: If you study |
| survive? On a very basic level, education is | | | | accounting in college, it will increase your chances |
| survival knowledge. It is the notation of cause and | | | | of becoming an accountant for large business. If |
| effect. If you venture out in subzero weather | | | | you do not go to college, you will likely continue in |
| without protective clothing, the consequences will | | | | the type of job you presently hold. |
| be to become frost bitten, immobilized and | | | | Why a college education? A college education, in |
| possibly freezing to death. If you put your hand in | | | | general, is a way of increasing your awareness, |
| a flame you will likely be burned. As a child you | | | | whether it be awareness of how money operates |
| learned a lot of cause and effect relationships by | | | | or how the stars move in the night sky. It is a |
| directly experiencing them. As an adult, you can | | | | way of regarding experiments in the chemistry |
| note more symbolic layers to cause and effect | | | | lab, a way of judging the effect of advertising on |
| relationships. For example, if you do not learn | | | | the sale of a product, a way of monitoring your |
| basic math skills, you won't be able to balance | | | | own health, a way that shapes your choices at |
| your checkbook, calculate tax deductions, or | | | | every stage of life. If education is this pervasive, |
| determine if someone is cheating you. | | | | then does it not make sense to consciously obtain |
| Notation of cause and effect is part of being | | | | it? |
| aware of events in the world. The more events | | | | So, if education is awareness and the notation of |
| we become aware of, the more cause and | | | | cause and effect relationships, then how do you |
| effect relationships we master, the greater our | | | | increase it? The short answer is to go to school. |
| knowledge and the more effective is our | | | | Schools are social depositories of knowledge |
| education. Now, granted we can learn causal | | | | (cause and effect relationships). This is a way of |
| relationships via direct experience, as cited above. | | | | compressing our experience over time. And now, |
| But it would be inefficient for you to have to | | | | we have a great advantage over the schools of |
| learn all such relationships directly. Take chemistry, | | | | 30 years ago. We can go to school on line. We |
| for example. To master this discipline, you would | | | | need not even leave the comfort of our home to |
| have to reconstruct all experiments and | | | | go to school. So, what is the value of education? |
| observations handed down to you from the | | | | Recall Socrates' claim that the unexamined life is |
| beginning of this discipline. This is not only | | | | not worth living. If your life is unexamined, it |
| unnecessary, but inefficient. | | | | means you are not noting cause and effect |
| In addition to learning cause and effect | | | | relationships that are right before you. |
| relationships in the physical domain, you can also | | | | Your life will suffer as a consequence. It will suffer |
| explore such relationships in the aesthetic domain. | | | | in the physical sense of being burned it you place |
| For example, as you listen to music, you discover | | | | your hand in the fire, in the financial sense if you |
| certain combination of notes you find appealing | | | | do not learn basic math, and in the aesthetic |
| and some combinations that you find disagreeable. | | | | sense if you have no understanding of your likes |
| Later, you learn to predict what you like, whether | | | | and dislikes. In conclusion, just consider the |
| it be a certain combination of instruments, certain | | | | counter to Socrates: Ignorance is bliss. How |
| sequences, whether completely instrumental or | | | | functional do you think this maxim would be for |
| vocal or any number of other variables. | | | | survival? |
| If you formalize what we are discussing, then you | | | | |