“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.”
― Isaac Asimov
A few years back, a Japanese TV station conducted a survey across the greater Tokyo region: What is the best part of being an adult? One of the top answers was “I don’t have to study anymore”.
Really? So, once they grew up, they wouldn’t spare any time to learn anything new? Maybe this notion could be relevant if it were half a century ago where technologies run way slower and businesses and tradings were less internationalized than today’s world.
But look at our world today. Despite the coronavirus’s restrictions, we can’t spend even a day without global trades and technologies that are running way faster than ever before. While we have witnessed new models of iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel every year, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon delivered its crews to International Space Station.
The world is changing even at this moment. You can ignore all of those technological and scientific innovations, but you can’t be unrelated to them. To adjust yourself to modern technological advancement, you have to be a life-long learner. If you’re an office worker, maybe you should be aware of the danger of your situation due to the fact that your job will be replaced by AI (Artificial Intelligence) sooner or later. And the same goes for a wide range of jobs, including truck drivers, store clerks, and the list goes on.
To adjust yourself to modern technologies, all you need is a laptop. Even a cheap Chromebook is fine. What is amazing about the Internet is its accessibility to an endless amount of valuable information across the world for free.
For instance, you can automate daily spreadsheet tasks by coding Excel macros. How do you learn coding macros? Watch YouTube turoials! There are thousands of tutorials that guide you through coding Excel macros. Can’t you afford Microsoft Excel? Maybe you can consider using Google Spreadsheet, which is completely free and you can learn its own coding language, called GAS (Google Apps Script) through YouTube tutorials.
See? Now you don’t have any excuse not to learn to code for example. In my personal experience, Excel VBA, which is Excel’s official macro language, was the very first language I mastered. And it paved the way to explore the world of programming languages and computers in general.
So, why did I mention coding? You see, technological illiteracy is no longer a sustainable option for our generation. And almost entire segments of the first world economy, including the US, Japan, and Europe, are off-limits to those who are illiterate of technology. Basic digital skills will help you boost your career and is a minimum requirement for our generation.
And the same is true of mathematical skills. Mathematical illiteracy will force you to give up a wide range of job opportunities. Almost every form of business and innovation has something to do with mathematical concepts and decision-making.
The biggest problem of traditional mathematical educations is its irrelevancy to real-world conditions. In spite of the fact that we learn algebra in school, only a select few can adopt the knowledge into real-world situations. So, how can we take advantage of our mathematical education to solve our real-world problems? Go Google it! Watch YouTube tutorials! Or maybe you can search some books on Amazon and read them!
And this method leads to my main point. I do believe 99% of real education stems from self-learning, and the remaining 1% is what you learn at your school. Schools only give you a reason to start learning. The rest is up to you. Just like the traditional mathematical education that is irrelevant to solve real-world problems, you can develop your knowledge through self-learning and adopt the ideas to solve real-world problems.
To facilitate your self-learning, you have to understand at least a basic level of English: the de facto lingua franca of our world. This world is ruled by English speakers. Bill Gates, Larry Page, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and the list goes on. If you don’t understand English, you wouldn’t understand what direction this world is heading.
And you can’t even access the aforementioned Internet resources which are often written or spoken in English if you don’t understand the languages. And if you’re from an English-speaking country, congratulations! You already have a huge advantage when compared to those from non-English speaking countries.
Here, let’s get back to the survey: What is the best part of being an adult? One of the top answers is: “I don’t have to study anymore”. So, how do Japanese adults spend their time after work and weekends? They go drinking with their colleagues and friends and they stupidly believe that’s what adults are supposed to do.
Don’t you think what they do is terrifying? It’s terrifying because that could be the worst way to waste your time and life in general. Why don’t they learn some basic Excel functions, practice coding, or learn a new language if they have time gossiping about their friends or neighbors? Since they can speak only Japanese, they don’t even know what is happening in the rest of the world.
And they’re even not aware of the fact that they’re linguistically and technologically left behind when compared to international standards. The worst part of this story is that how they spend their life is brutally hurting their life even without knowing it. Although I mentioned my country’s situation, if you’re in a similar situation, I just want you to have a moment to think about it. And don’t be one of them. Always, think globally and don’t succumb to your local peer pressure.
Take a look at Singapore as an example. Not only do they speak English, but they can also speak Mandarin and other local languages. One of the significant reasons why Tokyo couldn’t be a global financial center like Singapore or Hong Kong was its lack of linguistic ability. Financially and technologically, Singapore is one of the Asian beacons to lead the region.
Lastly, my personal belief is this: the day you lose your curiosity is the day you die inside. What makes us apart from those eating bananas behind bars in a zoo is our nature of curiosity. Don’t be one of those who stopped living but only existing and drinking alcohol after work. You’re more than that. Trust me.
