I often hear students say, “How will this benefit me in my career? How will this help me get a job?” What they are really asking is: Why should I study something that does not seem useful or beneficial to my worldly life and success?
This is a valid question for an educational system whose sole mission is to train skilled workers in a specialized field or to prepare them to enter the workforce with basic communication and computation skills. Even these basic skills are becoming increasingly irrelevant with the rise of technology and automation.
This begs the question: What makes a certain type of knowledge useful or not useful? Beneficial or not beneficial? Does every type of knowledge need to be useful? Does it need to be useful to be beneficial?
A useful thing is something that can be used for practical purposes. A beneficial thing is something favorable or advantageous—something that results in good.
Consider the analogy of a house. Technically, you could build a house out of the most basic elements necessary to fulfill its purpose: a place built for human habitation. This would include a foundation (floor), four walls, a roof, and a way to enter and exit. This home is useful—it serves a practical purpose. But is it good? Is it beautiful? Consider a palace, castle, or mansion. Why do people spend so much time and money building and designing these structures? What is their purpose or usefulness beyond serving as a place for human habitation?
Education is like a palace, castle, or mansion. Not only does it serve its primary function as a house, but it also evokes beauty, wonder, and reflection. Because of the quality and craftsmanship with which it was built, it is cherished and has stood the test of time. True education is not merely what is useful, but what leads to a good, meaningful life.
A good life is not about material or worldly success. There are plenty of people on this earth who have gained wealth, status, and fame but do not live a good life. What is “the good life”? The good life is a life of contentment, gratitude, and righteousness despite hardships, trials, and tribulations. Do not settle for the house when you can have the mansion.