The Scholar, Uneducated man and the mouse
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Do allow me to offer an insight to the topic.
Let's not despise the uneducated or the low educated ( whatever that means - non PHD scholars are low educated as well?). Do understand that any society in the world cannot afford to have everyone a manager or an engineer, otherwise who will perform other manual duties or below managerial roles?
Furthermore, there are many more complex social reasons why the uneducated remain so, some of them being lack of opportunities, lack of finances, lack of spaces in the Uni, late bloomers, specifically talented, etc.
It would be an uneducated and unintelligent presumption to attest solely that the uneducated are so because they are lazy or wish to shortcut the path to riches ( if it even exist amongst the educated, legally and ethically).
Education is of prime importance. There can be no denying this fact. Without education, there would have been no progress and evolution of mankind. But what being educated means today is a corruption of the noble aims on the purpose of education!
Education began with the greeks and it was philosophy based - even mathematics. It's purpose was to elevate the lives and minds of the masses.
To draw even further back, it was religion - another form of philosophy, that taught mankind the concept of words, law and orders, right up to Jesuit priests evangelizing on pagan lands in latter centuries.
The ultimate purpose of education was a philosophy to educate, to meet the increasing specific needs of blossoming civilisations, and to uplift lives of the common people.
Unfortunately, today in Singapore, education is a measure of status that attempts to separate the educated into elites from the uneducated or lower educated, and abused as another cheap 'get rich scheme' more commonly associated with the lower educated masses, as evident in the huge number of bright minds being attracted to banking and finance courses instead of engineering or social work, or demanding to be paid anti-socially several times over and above the salaries of the common masses instead of a percentage slightly higher due to their responsibilities.
The lower educated cannot be blamed for being attracted to get rich fast schemes, for they know not philosophy or possess analytical skills of the educated, and only demand what they deemed is right being living in an equal society with the highly several times over-paid educated.
Thus it is the responsibility of the educated to help uplift the lives of their fellow men with proper ways to seek equal or better prosperity, live enriching lives, and not downtrod, treat them with condescension or despise them, as some parents or potential in-laws do.
There is more to life than just money, as many would have realized by now through this financial crisis that wiped out wealth, careers and jobs. What you amass today could be gone tomorrow. When all else disappears, only your character remains, as Ponzai Madoff and his clients found out.
Under Imperial China, the scholarship exams were of noble aims, to enable bright young minds to help rule the country, but unfortunately, as the pitchfork welding common folks realized, it only enabled bright minded young elites of every single dynasty throughout China's history, to practice corruption, cronyism and favoritism
Character is something that can only be build up natuarally, cultivated through continual learning of diverse subjects, or put through the fire under adverse situations, and not obtained through any specific university degree. This is more important than education or get rich schemes. Without good characteristic traits, civilisation will end and revert back to barbarism - the law of the jungle.
Myhumble plea to both sides is to end this debate on amicable terms. We need each other and must never allow a gulf to separate us all. We can listen to both sides and need not denigrate anyone.
We are only flawed human beings after all, and no educated man alive dare claims he know its all and is superior to others and deem them stupid, nor can anyone untutored claim education had regressed mankind.
Each and every single human individual has his/her special gift or talent that can contribute towards a better egalitarian society that is made up of you and me, our families and friends. from the artistes, musicians and even a hardworking roadsweeper can brighten up our lives.
Encouragements and hopes for a better tomorow together will evolve us to the next plane of existance beyond the jungles.
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This is what i call by high IQ, low EQ. Which sadly alot of ppl in this era still possess.
