Our Education is Never Complete

From very early childhood, we go through many stages of development.

As a toddler, we learn to sit, stand-up, walk, recognize people and things, speak. Later in school we learn to read and write, and pick up knowledge in language, science, maths, history and essential life skills.

Simultaneously, we develop our personality, social skills, emotional quotient, and spiritual side. When we are done with the education and start a career, it is time to acquire practical skills useful for the job.

As we get married, have kids, we develop new skills about parenting and being a spouse. When the kids mature we discover the ways to deal with grown up kids. When they get married, we learn to deal with the kids-in-laws.

When we reach closer to retirement, we learn how to cope with old age. No matter how old we are or how much we know, there seems to be a constant need to learn new stuff all the time.

Does this need for life-long learning point to a basic flaw in our education? Do our schools fail to equip us with the necessary knowledge and skills required for the rest of our life? Should the school not aim to send us out as a "finished product"?  What is the point of time in life when we could say we are done with the learning process?

The answer is - never! The day I think that I am a "finished product", I am finished. Even if we have read a lot and developed a lots of skills, life brings us new situations all the time, and learning to deal with them is not only necessary, but is also great fun. This reminds me of a saying:

You can not step in the same river twice. The river is changing every moment, and so are you.

If you are a computer user, a metaphor can help understand it well. Our life is not like computer hardware that leaves the warehouse in finished state, but is is more like a piece of software that requires regular bug fixes and upgrades throughout its lifetime. Even if you buy the best virus protection software in the market, it needs to upgrade itself after some time to deal with newer viruses going around. In a similar way, if you have been fortunate enough to get a good education and experience, do not consider yourself "done" yet. You will need to find a way to upgrade yourself to deal with the new situations in life every once in a few years.