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Education and Introspection

Kh Asef Safa Kabir

Many notable philosophers have defined the term 'education' from numerous dissimilar viewpoints. According to some it's an elaborate process of acquiring the invaluable treasures of wisdom, while the others have portrayed it as an omnipotent luminosity that clarifies our views about the universe. Unquestionably there is no absolute way to define 'education' since the individual aspirations that generally encourage us to obtain knowledge critically vary from one person to another.

In fact, for every single phenomenon of life these human aspirations are evidently unique in every man. For instance, some people particularly wear trendy outfits to make idiosyncratic style statements, while most of us consider putting on cloths to be an unavoidable custom of being civilized. Similarly, education and the profound illumination it brings may hold different significances for different groups of people.

It's utterly disappointing that to a great many of us obtaining education is gradually turning into a kind of lucrative trade as we occasionally do not hesitate to regard it as an expensive passport, which's capable of entitling us to a splendid career. Perhaps, that's not entirely an unjustifiable approach since in this pioneering era of technological revolutions aggressively ambitious attitudes are exceedingly imperative to achieve the ultimate accolades and triumphs! However, this outlook blatantly resembles the poetic acumen of that naïve literary critic who meticulously praises the lifeless external structure of a metaphysical verse and neglectfully ignores the didactic message of the piece.

It's quite axiomatic that 'substantial education', regardless of its modes, introduces us to the world around us. In that way it makes us aware of ourselves through comparative self-evaluation. When we begin to know about the world we apparently understand the importance of our contribution to the general progression of mankind as we realize the fact that the sacred bond of humanity inevitably links all of us. This remarkable realization simultaneously augments our sophisticated conscience, around which our ethical cultivation revolves. Subsequently, it also enables us to be acquainted with our cultural, intellectual and social status in the world. This ability of understanding ourselves is unequivocally indispensable to shape our destinies in a multicultural world where self-awareness can unequivocally escort us to the iridescent threshold of personal enlightenment as well as national prosperity at a broader level.

However, I must also admit that nowadays the hypothetical concept of 'substantial education' is nothing but an incredible myth. Regrettably, in this tumultuous hi-tech age we are often devoid of the blessings of self-consciousness and self-confidence. Despite being well-educated most of us are robotically living a purposeless life without perceiving the fundamental significance of human existence. Moreover, we predominantly lack the coveted capacity of self-examination, which might serve as the efficient navigator to direct us towards the exact paths for obviating the ominous futility of life. Neither do we ever feel the urge to converse with our inner-selves. As a consequence, we are completely incapable of examining the rationality of the visions and lifestyles that we recklessly adopt

Our education should make us capable of scrutinizing our own sagacity and deficiencies. We must know exactly how much we should endeavor to be ultimately enlightened. This outlook is enormously crucial for the systematic evolvement of a sensible personality. A person's resolute voyage to discover his own potentials can be regarded as the greatest expedition of his life. As a matter of fact, we often display a rather odd tendency of assessing an individual on the basis of his grades and not by his erudition. In spite of that, if a person is well aware of his priceless treasure of intellect, he can never be defeated in the long run. After all, we must never forget the unmistakable fact that a progressive nation must always have a supreme control over all its vital resources.

(Student of North South University)
E mail asefkabir@hotmail.com