Higher Edumuncation Leads to l33tness?

[Jayce]

Anyway... so I've been rolling a question around in my mind a bit. Does higher education give you a lower tolerance for idiocy? I've been

I’ve been noticing that over the past year or so the more I learn in school, the less I enjoy running into a lot of my older friends. Most of their lives have gone one of two ways, drugs or marriage and kids right out of high school. The one’s that turned to drugs I just avoid anymore because they make me uncomfortable, the others… well… an example would be the most current wedding I went to. Most of the girls there were just in school until their honey got back from their LDS mission and they were married and planning a family. I understand that planning for your future is a big deal out of high school, but just waiting to start popping kids out or numbing your mind enough that you don’t denote the passage of time? Wtf. I almost look down on them when we are in a conversation because it almost always steers one of those two ways, both things I have no interest in, I’m adopting and don’t like drugs. I feel a bit education elitist due to how I see those people now and can’t help but pity them mostly for not trying to expand their minds.

I wrote the below post on a farming forum out of almost sheer boredom, it's just what happened over the weekend in my little world. Re-reading over it a few times I'm certain I come off as an asshatt in most situations but I just don't want to give people time unless they can prove they won't waste it... ironic that I post in the bored at work thread more than any others and none of it contributes much XD

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So, yet another random installment of "I'm-so-emo-I-think-I'm-a-vampire" idiocy has been let lose upon the world... normally I'd never comment on something like this but it directly invaded my personal space this weekend. >.< I'm sad to say that another book from the Twilight Series is out.

When I say that it invaded my personal space I'd love to be joking but I'm not, I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up another copy of Tim O'Briens "The Things They Carried," and John Krackours "Into the Wild." It was close to 10:00 at night and I figured that the store would be next to dead thanks to it being summer, Friday, and in literature devoid Utah. Oh fuggin nooooo.... The parking lot was packed, there were so many people caught up in their own little emo-world walking in the street I had to use my scare tactic to get them out of the way and find parking (see: put car in neutral and rev the engine, works every time). By the time I got to the door I spotted no less than 23 people dressed like a new-age 'vampire' what ever the hell that means. The two employees guarding the door asked me if I was there for the pre-release party, I think my answer was "Oh god no! I like literature." which sent the worker girl on the other side of the door into a fit of giggles, and got me about a dozen dirty looks from 14 year olds whose lives are just sooooooooooooo hard. It was worth it.

So out of the few hundred kids that look like their mothers Avon makeup kit exploded there were maybe a handful, including me, that didn’t look one step away from suicide. I went to the Classic Literature section to get my books and was accosted by a possibly early twenties girl that looked all sort of hopeful and asked me if I was there for the release party... I actually stopped myself from laughing, I’m still not sure how I did that, all I did to earn her dislike was point out that the book I was buying has been a staple of university literature since it was printed, not something I can melt my makeup with by being teary eyed if a vampire dies.. Yea, I didn’t make any friends that night.

And before those of you that like this book series get all up in arms about “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” I actually read through chapter one while I was there. I feel dirty after that.


This isnt a rant, I was just bored and wanted to write

-------------------------------------------------------------<
Anyway, that's about the gist of it.

So... going to school and actually paying attention to the world politics seem to have a detrimental effect on how I get along with the rest of the population. Then again, I've run into some of the most retarded people in my life I guess I'm just not shocked when people I meet show me signs of that and want to send them to the headsman before I experience it again.

Anyone else noticing this pattern in their lives? Is too much learning a bad thing that distances you from the rest of humanity?

 

[Trippyhippy]

If you start smoking pot it makes you a little dumber and you don't notice anymore.

Or you could continue to care and let it drive you crazy. That scenerio ends with a gunman on a tower. People (especially kids) are fucking ignorant. I'm not excluding myself from this by the way. I was an ignorant ass teenager myself.

There are other options, but the biggest social groups revolve around Sex, alcohol, drugs, or religion.

Almost everyone in the world is heavily interested in one of those things.

Sex will get you a bunch of kids are a bunch of diseases.
Alcohol slowly kills you and seperates you from reality.
Drugs make you stupid and lazy.
Religion uses you like a $2 prostitute, and consumes every aspect of your life.

Pick your poison.

 

[Pur]

So out of the few hundred kids that look like their mothers Avon makeup kit exploded

This is why Iluvyou lol. I'll send ya a PM response xD

 

[Tristam Green]

That's what I thought my Mom walked into at Barnes and Noble here when she was visiting last weekend. She didn't quite know what to make of it since she rarely goes out after late-thirty anyway.

I dunno if being educated in the traditional sense makes you less tolerant of idiocy or such behaviors, but moreso life experiences (a different form of education itself). Personally, I wouldn't have known there was a new "Twilight" book coming out if you hadn't told me -- the last book I bought was the new "Artemis Fowl" book and I was unaware of even its release, lol. I had to add it to the ever-growing stack of books I'm reading, now including Lukyanenko's "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" (much better vampire stories, imo), a re-reading of Heaney's translation of "Beowulf", Grogan's "Marley and Me", and the entire Chronicles of Narnia, which I'm chomping at the bits to get to.

lol for an awesome anecdote though.

 

[Halifirien]

Yes, education lowers your tolerance for idiocy. So does maturity.

Education helped me stop making pathetic attempts to embrace religion. There's definitely a distance factor in being an atheist in the United States. When you don't buy into all the supernatural bullshit, it can be a lonely experience when you realize just how much time it consumes in other people's lives. But I'd rather be right than popular, ha-ha.

Extra points awarded for The Things They Carried. I love that book.

 

[Stine]

Yeah I always felt weird going back to my hometown to find out that most of the girls in my class were married, had babies, and/or were stay at home moms. When Tristam and I have kids it would be nice for one of us to stay at home with them but I'm not expecting that. I also found out that I didn't care for all the bs from gossip that most of them seem to like. I still like hanging around some of my old friends and think that they are nice people but I know that there are certain discussions that they don't want to have. Luckily I can talk about things with my family (especially Tristam and my sister). I also have some friends that I can have intelligent discussions with as well. My education makes me question religions but I still have my Christian faith.

I'm not sure about your circle of friends but it's always good to have at least one person that you know that will share a good debate about topics with you. This should keep you stimulated some. I see that you read already and that usually helps me. Working out at the gym and doing yoga sometimes has helped me as well. I am not sure what will work for you but good luck.

 

[Jayce]

Or you could continue to care and let it drive you crazy. That scenerio ends with a gunman on a tower. People (especially kids) are ------- ignorant. I'm not excluding myself from this by the way. I was an ignorant ass teenager myself.

Heh, I wont deny that I wasnt an ignorant teenager. I tried the pot route but kicked that habit fast when I went to boot camp right out of highschool. It worried me a bit that some of the biggest idiots I've ever met were allowed to handle explosives. I wont go back to drugs, I have too much riding on getting my education over with (well... until I go for my masters degree and eventually my doctorate because I'm a sucker for punishment)

Yes, education lowers your tolerance for idiocy. So does maturity.

Extra points awarded for The Things They Carried. I love that book.

I have noticed that life experiences have given me a more cynical edge on reality, some of the horrible things I've seen are in no way the worst that could be out there but they have shown through in a lot of things I am capable of doing now.

Hehe Tim O'Brien was at a highschool a few blocks from my house for an authors convention a few years back... while I was out of town >.< on the fun side my girlfriend was part of the literary committe and was able to get a few books autographed there's also a bit more to the story about the little girl he had a crush on in elementary school but I'll only give out that in a PM xD

I'm not sure about your circle of friends but it's always good to have at least one person that you know that will share a good debate about topics with you. This should keep you stimulated some. I see that you read already and that usually helps me. Working out at the gym and doing yoga sometimes has helped me as well. I am not sure what will work for you but good luck.

I have quite a few people that I can discuss things over coffee with from time to time, I think I've just been missing them because my school schedule over the summer was so hectic (accellerated classes? {No Thanks, I'll Have To Pass} ). Hopefully I can grab a few of them and go hide out at the devils own coffee shop this week.

I havent been able to get into my routine for excerscise.... crap, since last summer ;_; I have a bad habit of doing really stupid things when I work out because I feel so out of place at a gym. I usually grab a few gallon water jugs and some free weights and put them in a backpack then go jogging up the mountains behind my house, lots of fun but really dumb

Thank you everyone that has responded, it's given me a bit more perspective ^_^b

 

[Halifirien]

Hehe Tim O'Brien was at a highschool a few blocks from my house for an authors convention a few years back... while I was out of town >.< on the fun side my girlfriend was part of the literary committe and was able to get a few books autographed

I took a Vietnam Literature course in college, which was co-taught by a professor who'd fought in Vietnam and a professor who'd been a protester back in the states. They were good friends, and it made for a great dynamic and plenty of humor. The Things They Carried was one of the books we read for it.

 

[Jayce]

I took a Vietnam Literature course in college, which was co-taught by a professor who'd fought in Vietnam and a professor who'd been a protester back in the states. They were good friends, and it made for a great dynamic and plenty of humor. The Things They Carried was one of the books we read for it.

I would have loved to attend that class, it sounds like those two could have come up with some fantastic discussion topics. My english 1010 teacher gave me a list of books after I finished her class and The Things They Carried was at the top of the list. I'm just waiting for her to get back from her road trip before going to talk about the books

 

[Gerry]

Anyway... so I've been rolling a question around in my mind a bit. Does higher education give you a lower tolerance for idiocy? I've been

I’ve been noticing that over the past year or so the more I learn in school, the less I enjoy running into a lot of my older friends. Most of their lives have gone one of two ways, drugs or marriage and kids right out of high school. The one’s that turned to drugs I just avoid anymore because they make me uncomfortable, the others… well… an example would be the most current wedding I went to. Most of the girls there were just in school until their honey got back from their LDS mission and they were married and planning a family. I understand that planning for your future is a big deal out of high school, but just waiting to start popping kids out or numbing your mind enough that you don’t denote the passage of time? Wtf. I almost look down on them when we are in a conversation because it almost always steers one of those two ways, both things I have no interest in, I’m adopting and don’t like drugs. I feel a bit education elitist due to how I see those people now and can’t help but pity them mostly for not trying to expand their minds.

I wrote the below post on a farming forum out of almost sheer boredom, it's just what happened over the weekend in my little world. Re-reading over it a few times I'm certain I come off as an asshatt in most situations but I just don't want to give people time unless they can prove they won't waste it... ironic that I post in the bored at work thread more than any others and none of it contributes much XD

-------------------------------------------------- < look ma! It's a page break!

So, yet another random installment of "I'm-so-emo-I-think-I'm-a-vampire" idiocy has been let lose upon the world... normally I'd never comment on something like this but it directly invaded my personal space this weekend. >.< I'm sad to say that another book from the Twilight Series is out.

When I say that it invaded my personal space I'd love to be joking but I'm not, I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up another copy of Tim O'Briens "The Things They Carried," and John Krackours "Into the Wild." It was close to 10:00 at night and I figured that the store would be next to dead thanks to it being summer, Friday, and in literature devoid Utah. Oh fuggin nooooo.... The parking lot was packed, there were so many people caught up in their own little emo-world walking in the street I had to use my scare tactic to get them out of the way and find parking (see: put car in neutral and rev the engine, works every time). By the time I got to the door I spotted no less than 23 people dressed like a new-age 'vampire' what ever the hell that means. The two employees guarding the door asked me if I was there for the pre-release party, I think my answer was "Oh god no! I like literature." which sent the worker girl on the other side of the door into a fit of giggles, and got me about a dozen dirty looks from 14 year olds whose lives are just sooooooooooooo hard. It was worth it.

So out of the few hundred kids that look like their mothers Avon makeup kit exploded there were maybe a handful, including me, that didn’t look one step away from suicide. I went to the Classic Literature section to get my books and was accosted by a possibly early twenties girl that looked all sort of hopeful and asked me if I was there for the release party... I actually stopped myself from laughing, I’m still not sure how I did that, all I did to earn her dislike was point out that the book I was buying has been a staple of university literature since it was printed, not something I can melt my makeup with by being teary eyed if a vampire dies.. Yea, I didn’t make any friends that night.

And before those of you that like this book series get all up in arms about “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” I actually read through chapter one while I was there. I feel dirty after that.


This isnt a rant, I was just bored and wanted to write

-------------------------------------------------------------<
Anyway, that's about the gist of it.

So... going to school and actually paying attention to the world politics seem to have a detrimental effect on how I get along with the rest of the population. Then again, I've run into some of the most retarded people in my life I guess I'm just not shocked when people I meet show me signs of that and want to send them to the headsman before I experience it again.

Anyone else noticing this pattern in their lives? Is too much learning a bad thing that distances you from the rest of humanity?

Short answer for me, yes. I have less tolerance for idiocy, especially here in the UK >_>

It seems there are more idiots in the UK than anywhere else, the only nice, intelligent people I know are at Uni or playing FFXI or Warhammer.

 

[Zaltana]

Anyway... so I've been rolling a question around in my mind a bit. Does higher education give you a lower tolerance for idiocy?

yeah i think it can, but having an arrogant superiority complex helps big time too.

i too am an educated man, graduated from high school on time, spent 4 years in the USMC, currently pursuing my college education, never done drugs, do not drink, supported myself during and after my time in the military, and lost my virginity to my current girlfriend of 6 years.

let me also mention that i more then likely would have been there for that release party too had i known about it and was interested in the book. im currently waiting for the next book in the serise about R.L. Salvatore's newest trilogy about Drizzt.

you sound just as bad as the "kids" you looked down on at that store really. in your shoes i would have done the mature thing and ignored them, not ooze out the "im so much better then you all cause i'm into better things then you are." vibes. I have friends that that have done the drugs/drinking path and the having kids early path as well. i don't look down on them at all. that is their choice and they have to live with the consequences, not me. it makes no sense for me to get all high and mighty cause i feel i took a more logical course in my life.

IF they have kids right out of high school and get married and all of that jazz and they are making it work they will earn my respect cause they are doing the responsible thing instead of turning tail and running. as for my old drug using friends, if they continue to do drugs i know that whatever befall them will be their fault. Hell my own brother has criminal record longer then the Deceleration of Independence. i guess i should look down on him too, huh? I'll love my brother till the day he dies. If he shot someone tomorrow I'd be angrier then a bull shocked with a cattle prod. but he's still my brother and cause i care about his future and I'd be upset because of that.

I don't really think higher education makes you less tolerant of idiocy, but i do think that if you have a superiority complex, like you seem to have, it just makes it worse. i'm sorry not everyone in the world can be as perfect as you are.

 

[Zyndara]

I have also had a distance grow between myself and some of the friends I knew and loved over time. It's human nature. We all grow and change - things that were once important to us sometimes aren't as we mature. We all have a different idea of what will make us happy. For some people, their parents instilled in them that marriage and kids is what is supposed to happen next. For others, the future is open and theirs, to maybe do the things they couldn't do under the watchful eyes of their parents. For me, things started to change after high school when I fell in love, got my heart broken, and put the pieces back together on my own, living alone in a huge city. Suddenly the very young-minded parties when I got back home - the chatter about who was hooking up with who, and who was cheating on who - just didn't matter to me anymore. I had gone to college and then lived out on my own, had supported myself while recovering from a broken heart, and now had little to nothing in common with those whose lives had not extended past their small, narrow-minded bubble of experience. I didn't look down on them... they were where they needed to be in their lives. But I found myself spending less and less time with them as we had constantly decreasing similarities.

Nowadays, I've pretty much adopted a live-and-let-live mentality. All of us are different, all of us have our own morals and standards and I think the most important thing is to respect yourself by respecting that. I've met some "uneducated" people who are some of the wisest, most grounded people I've ever known and conversely, have met some highly educated people who could not be more clueless about the world and the people in it, and wouldn't know genuine wisdom if it bit them in the ass.

I feel people should make the decisions they need to make in their lives, and come to whatever conclusions they must. They just need keep in mind that there are two sides to every story; and some of the most fascinating books have tattered, worn covers.

Edit: To add, I think the more you learn, the more difficult it is to accept what you're being fed. Whether it be religion, science, or just people's excuses, it becomes harder to accept what you've been taught as gospel. You become more aware of questions as you learn things that didn't occur to you before, and those questions can shake up a lot of things depending on how far you want to take searching for the answers.

 

[Zaltana]

agreed.

 

[Romper]

I really hope your professor didn't recommend Into The Wild. Seriously that book wasn't challenging when I read it my senior year of high school. Into The Wild is one of the only books to have pissed me off because not only did the kid not deserve a book written about him, but the book wasn't really interesting (if it's your thing understandable). The guy was a douche not contacting his family and anyone he made any sort of relationship out of the blue. Why Krakour wrote a book on the kid is beyond me. Why it's highly recommend is beyond me as well.

That is going off topic though (I hate the book with a passion as you can see). It's not so much as you're smarter than those kids (yes I am referring the 20somethings as kids too). If they like those books by all means they can spend their money on it. If they want to spend their money on dressing like a vampire, goth, emo, whatever more power to them. I have never read Twilight nor do I plan to ever read the series (partially because I have a penis and have been told it's a chick book by a girl). If you feel like putting people down for doing what they like that's up to you, but why care? You don't know those people. You should be happy that they are reading even if they do take certain extremes to act out their favorite characters.

As for the reason why you look down at your friends I can not personally say. If people can raise a family right out of high school I respect them as it can be difficult with only one decent salary, and another working part time so someone can stay at home to raise their family. You shouldn't view those friends as inferior rather than equals because raising a family on a high school education I would assume is even more difficult than the norm. Sure they gossip, but what else do they have if they aren't talking about their children? Being a housewife I'm sure is a rather boring yet fulfilling choice to live their lives passed adolescence.

You can feel superior to your drug addict friends I see no problems there.

 

[Uzor]

Yes, but that's because I'm narcissistic. The ONLY thing that really annoys me are idiots (being wrong isn't idiotic).

I constantly strive to achieve more knowledge, and love to challenge myself by, say, discussing about real-life issues etc. imo, there's no better way to learn then by discussing. Which is one of the reasons I hate idiots. They have no skill what-so-ever in anything, and get me bored fast.

tbh, I think quite a lot of people find me annoying, as I pretty much strike up a discussion about things at least one to three times every time I'm in a social situation outside of work.

 

[Trippyhippy]

I really hope your professor didn't recommend Into The Wild. Seriously that book wasn't challenging when I read it my senior year of high school. Into The Wild is one of the only books to have pissed me off because not only did the kid not deserve a book written about him, but the book wasn't really interesting (if it's your thing understandable). The guy was a douche not contacting his family and anyone he made any sort of relationship out of the blue. Why Krakour wrote a book on the kid is beyond me. Why it's highly recommend is beyond me as well.

I enjoyed it very much. I suppose it just doesn't appeal to your taste. Saying that it's not a challenge to read is puzzling though? What is a challenge to read? If it's challenging to read something, I'd say the author failed in communicating his/her message.

That is going off topic though (I hate the book with a passion as you can see). It's not so much as you're smarter than those kids (yes I am referring the 20somethings as kids too). If they like those books by all means they can spend their money on it. If they want to spend their money on dressing like a vampire, goth, emo, whatever more power to them. I have never read Twilight nor do I plan to ever read the series (partially because I have a penis and have been told it's a chick book by a girl). If you feel like putting people down for doing what they like that's up to you, but why care? You don't know those people. You should be happy that they are reading even if they do take certain extremes to act out their favorite characters.

Right on.

As for the reason why you look down at your friends I can not personally say. If people can raise a family right out of high school I respect them as it can be difficult with only one decent salary, and another working part time so someone can stay at home to raise their family. You shouldn't view those friends as inferior rather than equals because raising a family on a high school education I would assume is even more difficult than the norm. Sure they gossip, but what else do they have if they aren't talking about their children? Being a housewife I'm sure is a rather boring yet fulfilling choice to live their lives passed adolescence.

Choosing to have kids right out of high school is irresponsible. You need to be financially stable before having kids. Making 10 bucks an hour at the factory is not financially stable. It sucks growing up like that. When I was little, I didn't have anything to play with on Christmas morning unless I woke up with a hard-on. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Having kids on accident right out of high school is equally as ignorant. That just means you learned nothing in SexEd. Congradulations, you are going to be a piece of shit wieghed down by kids you may love but deep down, you resent them. They can deny it all they want, but when your 35 and your kid is about to turn 18, you will be coming to the harsh realization that you wasted the best part of your life because you couldn't stop fucking.

Yeah, it can be difficult, and that's for people that are financially well off.

You can feel superior to your drug addict friends I see no problems there.

Do you feel superior to people that have Epilepsy, Palsy, Alzheimer's, or Parkinson's?

Addiction is a neurologically based disease. For many years recovery specialists have compared alcoholism or addictions to a physical disease: like diabetes. In reality addictions are more closely related to a neurological disorder like Tourette's Syndrome than they are to diabetes.

If the problems you suffer stem from severe alcoholism or addiction, you must accept that these problems are not primarily mental or free will issues. Addictions are not about will power. The problems facing addicts, alcoholics, and their families are miserable, disgusting, and infuriating. They are often hopelessly discouraging. But to imagine that an addict "could change if he wanted to" is a serious misunderstanding of the long term dynamic of addictive disorder. The fact is precisely that an addict cannot change in the long run even if he wants to! That is the definition of addiction: "the loss of control over the use of a substance." It is important to understand that this loss of control is manifested not in terms of days or weeks, but in longer term behaviors: terms of months and years.

The reason addicts have lost control is because they have suffered permanent physical neurological changes based in their brains and nervous systems. The disorder manifests in long term obsessive-compulsive behaviors outside the realm of the addicts own control. It is true enough that the use of chemicals begins with chosen behavior. But if alcoholism or addiction develops, the problem has moved outside the realm of free choice. It has developed into a long term mental and physical neurological disorder. All the emotional 'feelings' involved in drug or alcohol seeking are based in neurology. Addiction is based in physical dependency created by altered neurotransmitter balances, and driven by millions upon millions of new living, functioning active neurological pathways which have been established to sustain the condition in the addicts brain. The new neurological pathways are permanently established, and they will not just disappear. The primary neurological disorder is only complicated by physical dependence on the substances. The physical dependence on the substances is secondary! Physical drug withdrawal does not change the underlying neurological addictive disorder. After drug withdrawal, long term overpowering cravings are predictable. These cravings are, in reality, spontaneous nerve impulses. Even in the longer term, overwhelming cravings are outside the addicts control.

So really and truely, feeling "superior" to an addict, just makes you an asshole.

 

[Taurothar]

But feeling superior to the binge drinkers that don't have a problem with alcohol, they just overindulge, is perfectly fine. It's a thin line of difference but you can usually tell. Same goes for any other light substance, like weed. If you fuck your life up because of weed, I swear to god you're mentally retarded.

I only look down on people that have potential that is being wasted. When your friend who graduated in the top 5% of their class goes to community college so she can stay around town to stay with her lazy party boyfriend, you can't really help but feel ashamed at their choices. I know that's an extreme, but I saw it happen to no less than 3 girls I know. I'm not looking down on community college, at least it's something, but to waste all that ability to better themselves really irks me sometimes. And I'm not above that really, I fucked up a and wasted a lot of opportunities that I could have had, and I'm waking up to this and fixing it.

 

[Trippyhippy]

But feeling superior to the binge drinkers that don't have a problem with alcohol, they just overindulge, is perfectly fine. It's a thin line of difference but you can usually tell. Same goes for any other light substance, like weed. If you fuck your life up because of weed, I swear to god you're mentally retarded.

There is no such thing as a binge drinker that doesn't have a problem with alcohol. By definition, that is having a problem with alcohol.

I only look down on people that have potential that is being wasted. When your friend who graduated in the top 5% of their class goes to community college so she can stay around town to stay with her lazy party boyfriend, you can't really help but feel ashamed at their choices. I know that's an extreme, but I saw it happen to no less than 3 girls I know. I'm not looking down on community college, at least it's something, but to waste all that ability to better themselves really irks me sometimes. And I'm not above that really, I fucked up a and wasted a lot of opportunities that I could have had, and I'm waking up to this and fixing it.

That's all well and good, I agree with you on that point, but that doesn't have anything to do with addiction. That's what happens when you make bad choices. But that choice is based purely on the interaction between those girls and the losers for which they are staying.

 

[Zaltana]

deliberately wasting potential is a sad thing yes. it irks me too. But that can be reversed. and i'm not cynical enough to just give up on a person at the drop of a dime. if so i would have given up on my bother years ago.

i try not to look down on people at all. i do slip up from time to time with that though. Mostly if its a person that continues to make stupid decisions when the correct one slapping them in the face. There is a girl at my work thats like this. she comes to work complaining about the same thing over and over again, and we tell her what she can do to correct it. But all you can do is give them the advice you can and hope they take it.

i would like to think that the more educated a person becomes the more they would likely to recognize the so called idiocy and resolve to not make said mistakes themselves, and try to do their part to not pass them on to the next generation. Not use it as an excuse to become arrogant judgmental fools to make themselves feel they are better then others. which would suggest something of a inferiority complex, no?

 

[Raesvelg]

Education can lead to enlightenment.

Unfortunately, it can also lead to being a pretentious twat.

I've seen at least as much of the latter as the former. To be honest, and somewhat cynical, probably more of the latter.

Some folks simply don't get the luxury of going to college. Some folks squander it, while hypothetically obtaining their "education". And some folks go to school for 12 years, get their PhD in the philosophy of their choice, and when you get to the heart of the matter they haven't learned a damn thing outside their narrow field of study.

Education is simply an organized, focused form of learning. And anyone can learn, from anything, about anything. Ultimately, all a college degree is, is a certification from the institution in question that you've learned the things you claim to have learned. You could read books, amass enormous amounts of knowledge on your own and never set foot in a classroom, educate yourself to any degree you like, and there are people who would look down on you for your lack of a slip of paper "proving" you know what you say you know.

Looking down on people based off of what they read falls into the "pretentious twat" category, by the way. If anyone here gets that privilege, it's me, since I work in a bloody bookstore. And not one of those wretched superstores that are slowly killing publishing as we know it.

You know what a "classic of literature" is? A book that a variety of old men got together and decided was good, probably based in part off of interpretations well beyond the original intent of the author. The issue with that pedigree, of course, is that just because a group of people believe a thing to be true, does not make it so.

Ivanhoe is considered by many to be a classic.

Ivanhoe is shite.

I could go down a list of so-called classics if I wanted to, but why bother? Ultimately, the issue in question is whether my opinion is as valid as that of a professor of literature.

Oddly enough, it is.

Now, don't get me wrong. I laugh at emo kids, and goth kids, and (insert subculture here) kids. Not because of what they read, or what music they listen to, or anything like that. I laugh at "scene" kiddies because they identify themselves as "scene" kiddies. I laugh because they're trying so hard to be different, just like everyone else.

Scene kiddies wouldn't know individuality if it jumped up and bit them on their nipple piercings.

But fuck, if they wanna read mass-produced vampire twaddle, more power to them. At least they're reading, and frankly you have no idea if that's all they're reading.

In regards to addiction and the subsequent minor derail:

Addiction is a matter of willpower. So-called addictive personalities are simply short on the commodity. Physical addiction in particular is easy to beat, with sufficient willpower. Psychological addiction is, of course, considerably tougher, but again, it's a matter of willpower. There is always a choice in matters of addiction. It may not be an easy choice, but that doesn't change the fact that even an addict is in control of his life.