“Though I was grateful for a state-sponsored schooling that had lasted much longer than that of anyone else in my family, I had not really been educated, rather, brought up to pass exams.”
– Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self
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“Education: conscious or unconscious manipulation by one generation through material, intellectual, and moral pressure to model the following generation according to the rules and principles which, most often, the educators haven’t themselves followed, and of which they have sometimes recognized the inanity, if not even the danger.’
– Georges Simenon, When I Was Old
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When you choose to educate yourself, far from being constrained, life opens up.
At early middle age I cherish the freedom to study whatever I please. And the greatest part of this self manipulation is that there is no exam to pass at the end. It is infinite!
Far from being overwhelming, infinity in learning is exciting. I can never know too much. There is never a future where I can be bored from undersimulation. Every time I open a book I learn something new and often it’s the understanding of, a degree closer to being, my true self.
And no one has the same education as me. My path is unique, tailored to my whims and curiosities.
I played the game of schooling. I managed to finish with a fairly decent score.
But it’s taken me years to realise that I can learn anytime anywhere. I do not have the time to sit and study all day. I was never very good at that even when I was supposed to be.
Learning can take place in snatches. Moments, chewed here and there, add up to a big messy ball of attention.
I am making it up as I go along. And the best bit is I don’t have to justify the utility of my middle aged education.
This is education for myself. The best kind.
Conversations With Quotations 