Keith Braithwaite

Education – the search for knowledge – is an often misunderstood concept. There is a widely quoted saying: ‘Knowledge is power.’ But is this true? I suspect the true adage is ‘applied knowledge is power.’

I think I have a reasonable general knowledge and it might get me up to £1 million on a quiz show but, on the whole, it will not make me successful.

In his famous book, ‘Think And Grow Rich,’ Napoleon Hill outlines the famous court case between Henry Ford and a Chicago newspaper during the First World War. The paper had regularly accused Mr Ford of being an “ignorant pacifist.” Henry brought a libel case against the paper.

In court, the lawyers acting for the journalists fired question after question on general knowledge to the great industrialist. Each time he commented he did not know the answer. Clearly, the attorneys were starting to feel the case was won for their side. Mr Ford, however, suddenly leaned forward, pointed his finger at the lawyer asking the questions and said:

“If I should really want to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer any question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, why I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”

Formal Education Versus Self-Education

Does this mean that education is a waste of time? Actually, no.

Formal education does indeed have its place. At the very least, you learn discipline, which is extremely important to success. However, formal schooling is no use if the pupil is unwilling to learn. I did enjoy school but like so many others, I have had the most satisfaction in acquiring knowledge in subsequent years.

I can think of another two famous examples (there are many).

In his book on Winston Churchill, ‘Never Give In’, Stephen Mansfield relates how the great man struggled at school as his restless energy and zest for life would not let him conform to the rigid structure he found there.

“Where my reason, imagination, or interest were not engaged, I would not or could not learn.”

Avoiding university he scraped in at Sandhurst for officer training. There he started to find subjects that were of interest and during his travels around the outposts of the Empire he began to devour books. Suddenly his interest in education exploded: he studied as many as four books in one go, perhaps reading four or five hours a day. He took in many works including those of Gibbon, McCauley, Schopenhauer, Malthus, Darwin, Aristotle, Plato and Adam Smith.

As his son, Randulph Churchill put it “he thus became his own university.” His hunger for knowledge lasted throughout his life thereafter.

Andrew Carnegie, however, enjoyed school in Scotland (“School was a perfect delight to me, and if anything occurred which prevented my attendance I was unhappy”) but left at the age of 13 when his parents took him to America.

Carnegie’s education began in earnest when he was allowed access to an early employers library. As with Churchill, his thirst for knowledge was triggered.

In his autobiography, Carnegie wrote “Every day’ s toil and even the long hours of night service were lightened by the book which I carried about with me and read in the intervals that could be snatched from duty.”

Again, he absorbed many classical authors but became particularly fascinated by the plays of William Shakespeare.

Of course, Andrew Carnegie is remembered for donating money to higher education (such as Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh) but more significantly for donating many libraries as a payment for his initial education.

“It was from my own early experience that I decided there was no use to which money could be applied so productive of good to boys and girls who have good within them and ability and ambition to develop it, as the founding of a public library in a community which is willing to support it as a municipal institution.”

“The treasures of the world which books contain were opened to me at the right moment. The fundamental advantage of a library is that it gives nothing for nothing. Youths must acquire knowledge themselves. There is no escape from this.”

In his book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,’ Stephen R Covey believes both forms of education have their place. “Education – continuing education, continually honing and expanding the mind – is vital mental renewal. Sometimes that involves the external discipline of the classroom or systematized study programs; more often it does not. Proactive people can figure out many, many ways to educate themselves.”

“There’s no better way to inform and expand your mind on a regular basis than to get into the habit of reading good literature.”

Napoleon Hill sees education as a continuing process from school onwards.

“Successful men in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized knowledge related to their major purpose, business or profession. Those who are not successful usually make the mistake of believing that the knowledge-acquiring period ends when one finishes school. The truth is that schooling does little more than to put one in the way of learning how to acquire practical knowledge.”

In truth, once you have learned how to source knowledge, you should never stop learning. The website ‘Yahoo Answers’ is a great example. Here members post questions for which they want answers. The irony is anybody can go onto the site and search for the answer online, then post it on the site as their own answer! In other words, those posting factual questions simply do not know how to locate the answers themselves. Their education has stalled.

Interesting Features of Education

I find it interesting that virtually all the books I have consulted on this subject extol the virtues of education. I have had to restrict the sources I use!

What David J Schwartz said in ‘The Magic Of Thinking Big’ is interesting. He defines what is education.

“Real education, the kind worth investing in, is that which develops and cultivates your mind. The education of a person is measured by how well his mind is developed – in brief, by how well he thinks.”

“Anything that improves thinking ability is education.”

We have seen how great people believe in knowledge and education (even if it is specialized knowledge as in the case of Henry Ford). Visit the home of any ‘successful’ person and you will find in general they will have a large library of books. I think this is still the case despite access to the vast range of information available on the Internet.

Risking controversy, I will now introduce an example of not using such education. David and Victoria Beckham are successful in terms of fame and money (he as a not bad footballer) BUT I maintain their success is shallow. I was speaking recently to a builder who had undertaken some work at their very large house. He told me he had arranged the work with David Beckham personally and was amazed how impercipient Beckham was (actually he used a different phrase). Interestingly, he told me he saw only one book in the house – and it was Victoria Beckham’s biography.

One of my favourite authors is Philip Baker. In his book ‘The Secrets of Super Achievers,’ Baker reveals an interesting feature of education.

“Super Achievers realise that as the circle of knowledge grows, so also does the boundary of ignorance or, to put it another way, the more we learn, the more we realize we don’t know. A revelation of how much we don’t know will continue to motivate us towards learning.”

Education is very much to your advantage. Once again in his book, ‘Think And Grow Rich’, Napoleon Hill advocates home study courses. He sees a lack of education as a lack of ambition.

“There is one weakness in people for which there is no remedy. It is the universal weakness of lack of ambition. People, especially salaried people who schedule their spare time to provide for home study seldom remain at the bottom very long. Their action opens the way for the upward climb, removes many obstacles from their path, and gains the friendly interest of those who have the power to put them in the way of opportunity.”

Conclusion

The acquiring of appropriate knowledge is, therefore, essential to complete success.

Education is clearly continuous throughout your life and the constant enquiring and curiosity keeps your mind young and active. You can also see how it improves your thinking process, which, returning to the example of Henry Ford, is the true facet of education we are really after.

With the availability of the Internet, the courses offered by local colleges and the books, DVDs and CDs available, the opportunities for education are greater than ever before. Don’t squander them.

I will leave Philip Baker to conclude for me.

“We must listen to big people and immerse ourselves in the big ideas of our world. There simply is not enough time for the superficial, pedantic or banal things to dominate our cognitive abilities. We need inspiration, not just information. We need courage, not cowardice. We need passion, not pettiness. We will discover ourselves with solitude and searching, not superstitions and soap operas. We will finally reach our destination with discipline and deep thinking, not dalliance and diversion.”

Originally posted on HoratiosDreaming.ning.com (sadly this site is no longer available).