Education - The Great Equaliser

After having an engaging discussion with my girlfriend this morning, I've found it hard to stop thinking about the importance of education. I view it as an equalising 'commodity'. Unsurprisingly, I'm not the first person to think this. A quick search in Google reveals that Horace Mann (what a cool name!), the first great advocate of public education in the United States, thought the very same thing over a 150 years ago.

He beautifully articulates why:

“Education...beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of conditions of men --the balance wheel of the social machinery...It does better than to disarm the poor of their hostility toward the rich; it prevents being poor.”

Education is power. Just look at how society functions. When, ever, in the history of human existence, has knowledge and information been such a critical resource in society? The answer is never. And it only becomes more true as the pace of the 'Information Age' picks up.

Hoarding, shielding and privatising information is an absolute f***ing joke. Share it, as much as you can, as often as you can, to anyone who will listen.

The smarter society becomes around you the better. Information is not a finite resource - its not diminshed by one person using it. In fact, education depends upon people soaking up information and drawing new conclusions from it. That's how we continue to push the envelope of our knowledge.

Make it your mission to educate someone, on something, every single day. In addition to this, make it your mission to be educated on something, by someone, every single day.

The sooner we all get smarter the better.