Education matters, everyone knows it. But why? Is it really enough to go to a school and get a degree? Are we studying to be what? Millionaire? Successful entrepreneur?
I have been thinking about this since I’ve started my life in the university, 6 years ago. From elementary school to high school, all I had known was that education was crucial in order to have a successful career in the ‘future’. I passed the entrance exam and got accepted by my desired university only to find that there’s yet another competition for the ‘future’.
That was the moment when I started asking myself, ‘What is the meaning of getting education anyway if I can’t live the present only for the sake of the present?’ I’m sure most of you have asked this question in your life. Have you gotten any convincing answer? For me, there was a huge turning point just around that time.
The turning point
I participated in the school’s program to visit Malaysia for a month for the intense English course. I’ve never been there before, nor had I had any knowledge whatsoever about the country. When I first got there, I remember I was a bit overwhelmed by its chaotic atmosphere.
The English course was really fun. No students ever finished their assignment, they were always “a bit” late, and yet they were still eager to learn English.
Realizing that I know nothing at all
However, it was not the English course itself that brought a real turning point. It was the discussion I had with students of University of Malaya. This university is ranked No. 1 in Malaysia (THE) and also known to be the oldest university. It almost came as a shock when I first talked with them. We talked about culture differences between us including history, politics and education. These talks made me realize that I knew nothing at all, even about my country. I knew Japan was a unique country but didn’t know in what way.
So I came back to Japan with a determination to study abroad not only for a month but much longer. And 1 year later, I was in Sweden as an exchange student.
Confronting biased self
In Sweden, I struggled so much in many levels. Language, culture difference and etc. But what shocked me the most came when I realized the fact that I am an Asian. This might sound a bit weird but because Japan is so homogeneous that you don’t really see ‘race’ if you are Japanese. In Sweden, however, people saw me as an Asian, or else as a Chinese.
And at the same time, I found myself doing the exact same thing to others. I saw people first with their race before asking them who they really were inside. And that the moment when I confronted the fact that I was deeply biased. It was a huge revelation to me, and I think this could happen to anyone, anywhere.
Always we want to think that we’re right, our idea is rational and anyone who is on the opposite side is wrong. In school, workplace or in your family, this could happen anywhere. However, according to my experience, there is no one who is ‘always right’. Whether your idea is right or wrong depends on where you are and who you are with.
Confronting the fact that I was biased hurt me so much. It almost felt like I was denying myself from everything I had believed in.
Transformation
After all of those experiences, I feel like I become a totally different human being. I was helplessly judgemental back then, but now I can understand that the dialogue is critically important in every situation. And by knowing the limit of my knowledge I became much more eager to learn.
Then I started to wonder the possibility of education when it’s done in the right way. As I discussed in the previous article, Japan is doing it in the very wrong way. But if we change that and so do other parts of the world, it’ll be a huge game changer for all of us.
How education can change the world?
It has been a while since I started envisioning the possibility of realizing ‘world peace’ through education.
As mentioned above, there are two fundamentally important things to be achieved through education; confronting the fact that you are biased, and understanding the limit of your knowledge.
When both of them are fulfilled, I bet everyone will stop fighting.
There is no need to fight when everyone understands we are all different and it is completely okay. We can accept every difference based on the respect towards each other. When you get upset by seeing somebody doing something totally out of your morality, it is Your problem. You need to get better, not the other way around.
We have to have a discussion instead of war. We have to have respect instead of hate. We have to have compassion and embrace the difference.
Summary
Essentially, the education should not be considered as a tool to be a millionaire. As a matter of fact, you can be an extremely successful entrepreneur, even a billionaire without getting any educations.
Education should be, in my opinion, all about self-realization. Ideally, at the point when you graduate from school and start working, you should be able to thoroughly explain to others what is it like to be you, what is your values and what were your intentions behind all the decisions you made in the past.
Let’s hope that we’ll have nicer education system soon, before Life 3.0 taking over the world.
Author: Nobuyuki
Nobu’s blog 