The Importance of Being Educated

Radcliffe Camera, Oxford, 26 July 2018

The title of this blog is an intended pun on one of Oscar Wilde’s most famous plays, The Importance of Being Earnest. In this play a man who thinks he is without any particular social standing and who pretends to be called Ernest finds out that not only was he born into a good family but also that he was in fact given the name Ernest, but then as a baby was mistakenly left behind on a train in his governess’ handbag and was raised as a foundling by strangers.

In 1895 when this play was first performed it was indeed more important to have the right name and to be from the right social background than to have received any particular education. Education was primarily a privilege of the wealthy and was not really considered to elevate a man - for it was only really the male members of such wealthy families who received anything close to an education - above the station he was born into.

123 years later things look quite differently. Education at least in the Western world is not only available to a chosen few. It is available to men and women alike, irrespective of age, race, social status or wealth. As I am currently spending some time at #oxforduniversity I remember that of one of its current students is a girl who grew up in modest circumstances in Pakistan. She wanted to go to school and receive an education so much that she risked, and nearly lost, her life. No person should have to fight for her education to that extent and Malala Yousafzai is a living reminder of that.

This blog post though is about #education in the broader sense. I had the fortune to attend one of the best universities in the world. But you don’t have to have gained a university degree in order to become or be considered educated. I know people who have not had the parental support and encouragement that children and young adults need and should receive in order to get higher education. My closest friend is one of the most intelligent and well-read people I know. As an autodidact she has learned several languages and acquired a profound knowledge of psychology. If you want to be educated, you can.

For me being educated means making the most out of your intellectual, emotional and spiritual capacities, developing them and using them every day and in every area of your life.

It means educated in your body, mind and soul.

If you are educated in you body, you don’t over eat, over drink or over exercise. You give your body nourishment, enjoy everything (yes, also the “bad” things) in moderation and treat it as what it is: your own personal miracle and most valuable asset.

If you are educated in your mind, you read books, see movies, plays and art, listen to music, are open to your own and all other cultures. You learn languages and other new skills to broaden your horizon.

If you are educated in your soul, you go deep within, ask who you are and what is your purpose. You learn to love yourself and others, to be grateful and to accept people how and who they are.

As John Dewey, American philosopher, said: education is not preparation for life, it is life itself. Or, to finish also with #oscarwilde, you can never be overdressed or overeducated.

In my words, you can be in love both with Goethe and with Gucci. Now that’s a motto to my liking!