"When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." Goodhart's Law
This is precisely what education
is reduced to, it is no longer about knowledge or creating understanding
through awareness instead passing exams. To be fair exams are an important evaluation mechanism
to check the progress. But when passing the exam itself becomes raison d’etre
of education then it has failed. So is the crave for certificates from ‘prestigious’
colleges and PhDs. If the reason is to gain validation through certificates and
tags of prestige rather than the pursuit of knowledge or nurturing deeper insight then
it is a sham. An insecure immature society creates such situations where people
are desperate for upword mobility and seek validation by whatever means. Standards
of evaluation get reduced to markers of status among shallow people. Money and
power are also used to seek such status marker for ego satisfaction and
social positioning. These mindset thrive in primitive insular societies. Lack of investment in research is reflection of collective consensus as is insane sum on crude crass low calibre entertainment.
When education is valued to pass ‘entrance
exam’ it is beginning for worst possibilities wherein it was meant to be joyous
search, excitement of connecting to others and wider world. I have come across many
people with doctorates in crazy topics that is only meant to get the PhD
-essentially gaming the system, there is no genuine interest and the topic of
research is altogether forgotten once motive achieved. Imagine the amount of time and investment wasted. Years back I was
taking a session at ‘prestigious’ Stella Maris college in Chennai, and was
interacting with one of the teachers, who had a doctorate in a topic that was
quite interesting with possibilities but really couldn’t pursue it further as
a researcher. So, either you game the system or you get trapped in the system. Most
of these tags are meant to jostle for higher position, as if having this tag indicates
competence in the present occupation -that most likely they may not be and are inflating to posture, and on the contrary it should be a disqualification since it shows lack of
sincerity, an opportunist mindset that demeans the idea of education and passion
for pursuing knowledge. When you see young people deciding areas of interest
for further studies based on prestige hence easy access to money and power then
it is failure to understand education, it thrives on beggar minds that evaluate
on worthiness based on narrow gain. They are not motivated to learn but to please. If the core of education is reduced to this misplaced crave then
it is indication of deep rot in society. It nurtures superficial beings wandering
for next opportunity, very soon they detach and money becomes the only
motivator, this then leads to slipping into deeper ethical morass. It also reduces
complexity that nurture best of minds instead increases possibilities of lazy unthinking binaries and polarizing fixes.
Learning thrives in open minds. Nothing
is preconceived as worthless or quantified as waste. Mind expands when not confined and see interconnectedness
instead of silos of subjects. Education gives deeper meaning to life. Education
is important for human progress, and specialized training creates skills that equips to probe deeper into matter.
