Learning

I have been pondering the question of weather it is more important to have a college degree, or to simply love, and never stop learning. Certainly, there are a few things to consider. First, is the degree more important than the person. I submit that it is not. While I am in fact pursuing a degree, I am becoming more and more disillusioned with the way our culture puts such an emphasis on that piece of paper. I have recently been watching a lot of the content on ted.com and stumbled upon a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson about creativity. I, like so many other people, didn't consider myself to be a creative person, that is until recently. I feel, however, that there is a high level of creativity inside of each of us, but that is a topic for another post on another day. Anyway, I must say that Sir Robinson has expanded my thoughts about education. Our society has placed so much emphasis on producing rather than creating that we "become educated out of our creativity." The Bible puts it quite clearly. In Genesis "God created the heavens and the earth..." and then "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

Secondly, I have a question... can one gain the same life without a formal education? I don't have an answer to this one. Your insight in this area would be greatly appreciated.

And lastly, I propose that a desire to learn is much more important than a degree. Many formal education institutions seem to be catching on to this thought. I found a website that shows universities that are offering they course materials for free. This is a wonderful idea in my mind, because I love to learn. If you've known me for long enough you'll eventually hear me talk about sub-atomic particles, absolute zero, relativity and the like, but for me it isn't about knowing more than the other guy in the room. For me it is about knowing the creator of the universe just a little better. He is the one that created the heavens and the earth. He is the one that knew me before the foundations of the earth. He is the one. And to know Him is more important than a degree in my opinion.

But, you may have noticed that I seemed to have contradicted myself. I said that I am pursuing a degree and yet I find no personal value in it. This is the struggle I find myself in. A struggle between culture and myself. The culture may seem to be winning, but in the end I know that this is the path I must take. But I have downloaded some course material from MIT and UC Berekley.