adamjspooner

You Don't Need a Degree

April 2, 2007
8:19 PM

Many of my peers would consider me a highway scholar, a traveler of the globe in pursuit of the perfect education, hunting like Artemis. It's true, I've been to more schools than most stewards of the mind, even revisiting institutions time and time again. I've had my fair share of majors, minors, concentrations, and the like. I've tasted art, science, religion, philosophy, classics, ancient Greek... you name it, I've studied it. After all my travels and all my learning I withdrew. I stopped. Some would say I quit. But the real truth lies deeper than these shallow surfaces can ever afford. And through my journey I've come to realize some foundational truths. One of which I'd like to share with you.

You Don't Need a Degree

It's true. You don't need a degree. This ideology is not for all, not even for most. It's for the few who have the strongest of desires to gain wisdom. Moreover, for those of us that actively seek wisdom. One of the best examples of this is portrayed in the movie Good Will Hunting. Will's education cost him $1.50 in late fees at the public library, not $150,000 for some degree. He was passionate. He sought wisdom... sometimes from the most unlikely of places.

Seek Wisdom

According Nathan Shedroff, "Wisdom is an ultimate level of understanding in which we understand enough patterns and meta-patterns that we can use them for ourselves in novel ways and situations in which we didn't learn them." (Wurman 29) Having a degree does not equate to having wisdom. Having a degree is one way to show that you've acquired a skill in a specified area of study. The problem is I'm a perfectionist. I don't want to show I'm good at one skill. I want to be good at multiple skills. This is where the wisdom seeking comes in. To seek wisdom is to seek wise counsel. It's to follow closely the footsteps of one who has conquered the road you find yourself on.

Regurgitation

I fear the education system we're currently schooled in is one of regurgitation. We study hard only to spit back what we crammed in for the test. We are rewarded for answering correctly or keeping our mouths sealed when we're clueless. How are we to learn if we don't understand the information being given to us? How are we to understand if we fear the ridicule brought on by, seemingly ignorant, questioning? It has to change.

Apprenticeships

We've since left the world of apprenticeship where a student is ensconced in the shadow of a Grand Master. It's this level of devotion to seeking wisdom that brought about greatness. We only retain what we're passionate about. For some it's sports. For others it's German. So why are we afraid to be passionate? Why do we go for the degree in something we detest? Is it for the high-paying job? The CEO positions? So we can have stuff?

He Who Dies With the Most Toys

As an aside: I fear that we, as a society, yearn for stuff. Having stuff is not a bad thing at all. I enjoy fine products. I'm picky. It's one of the reasons I use an Apple. Stuff isn't bad. It's when we sacrifice passion and wisdom for stuff that it becomes horrid.

Where My Point Lies

Are you passionate about what you're doing? If not, I suggest you turn and run. Are you enrolled in school only to get a degree? You don't need a degree. Find someone who is passionate in the field you want to be in. Ask them to be a mentor to you. Learn from where they've been and what they've done. They will be able to teach you more than you could ever learn in a classroom.

For the Naysayers

Some of you will strongly disagree with this school of thought (no pun intended). You may argue that there is no way a person can become an astrophysicist without a degree. Or that you'd prefer your surgeon to have her doctorate in medicine before calling for the scalpel. I agree. In our society and this day and age a person that wants to study such a specific, and sometimes life-depending, field needs a degree. But, I would urge you to think about what these concentrated careers involve in their line of study. They require apprenticeships. Sure those involved must go through grueling amounts of school to get to the apprenticeships, but it is in those apprenticeships that they finally reach the area that passion takes over. Every doctor I've ever talked to has said it was their residency where they learned the most.

So I'll leave you with this. Utilize your resources. Be passionate. Seek wisdom.

Wurman, Richard Saul. Information Anxiety 2. Indianapolis: QUE, 2001.