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Having recently completed the coursework for a doctoral degree in behavioral health, I find myself reflecting on what that means, beyond any benefits to career advancement.

Life is the greatest ocean of unknowns any of us will experience. We are thrust into it, unprepared except for the guidance of our parents, and quickly discover the importance of socialization to survival. In fact, our so-called ‘social cognition’ has been cited as a primary driver behind homo sapiens’ disproportionately large brain size (Dunbar, 2007).

Though we leave the nest later than our nearest primate cousins, we must at some point go it alone: something that might be described as self-actualization. Discovery is exciting but also exhausting, and at some point, it seems prudent to pull up on some dry land and take stock, preferably in the company of like-minded individuals. This, in essence, is education.

Education means different things to different people. To some, it is primarily a matter of skill building. Skills are perhaps the easiest method of translating education into money. However, in this writer’s opinion, they are but one step on the value ladder.

The greatest benefit of education is the opportunity to think deeply, and critically, in the company of other thinkers. In this sense, education, particularly higher education, is unique. Whether it takes place in brick-and-mortar buildings or in the virtual world is immaterial. What matters is the discourse between students and instructors seeking to define themselves in a universe that to this date, remains largely unknown.

If you subscribe, as many physicists do, to pre-determinism, you might wonder why deep-thinking matters. Determinism is based on the Big Bang theory, which, according to current wisdom, is the driving force behind the universe (Webb, 2022). Since the Big Bang determined the current state of the universe and everything that follows, there is no free will. So, does education matter?

I would argue that it does, for several reasons. First, I strongly believe that life lived as a thinker is richer and more rewarding than life lived otherwise. Second, as human beings, we are uniquely endowed with the gift of advanced verbal and written language skills.

The implications of our unique ability to communicate is enormous: to study and learn from history, to critically consider evidence and update beliefs in the light of new evidence, and importantly, to co-create. Pre-determinisms doesn’t mean that we can’t plant a greener garden, and reap the benefits of its yield.

Education is a transformative experience, and that is where it delivers the greatest value. I am certainly not the same person now that I was when I entered this program. Transformative experiences across the lifetime are rare as hen’s teeth. As I know myself better, so the world seems clearer to me.

References

Dunbar, R. (2007). Brain and cognition in evolutionary perspective. In S. Platek, J. Keenan & T. Shackelford (Eds.), Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience (pp. 21-46). MIT Press. http://www.mitpress.mit.edu

Webb, B.L.J. (2022). Science, Truth and Meaning: From Wonder to Understanding. World Scientific. http://www.worldscientific.com