by Dr Nice

Created on: January 27, 2009   Last Updated: November 07, 2010

In the simplest terms education is the passing of ideas from an experienced person to someone with less knowledge of and less experience in the topic being taught. While we may think of education in terms of going to school, sitting in classes, and otherwise being formally instructed, whether one is actually in a formal "school" type of group instructional setting, or being taught one on one by a mentor, learning by reading a book, listening to a lecture, watching a video, or participating in an interactive multi-media presentation, the essence of education is one person providing to those who receive it, a portion of the wisdom and experience they have acquired in their life on a given topic.

Therefore, improving your education gives you the benefit of the life experiences of others, so that you can avoid the mistakes they made, the non productive things which they wasted their time on and that brought them harm while learning to recognize and take advantage of the things that brought them benefit, as you face the experiences of your life. Education gives you access to their wisdom, often acquired over many years of sorting through large amounts of useless or detrimental ideas and activities, years of personal and observed trial and error, years of their studying the accumulated wisdom of many other people over decades or even thousands of years, on a given subject. All forms of education expose you to concepts developed through the experience of others and learning them gives you access to the instructor's wisdom, which enables you to make better decisions and make better choices. Basically, education keeps you from constantly having to re-invent every wheel needed in your life.

Specific benefits to advancing one's education are many and diverse. Greater education puts one in a natural position of leadership over those with lessor educations. Knowing more allows one to more accurately interpret what they observe and experience because they understand more about what is actually happening. They understand more than those with less education about what the cause and effect relationships are that are occurring around them and how they personally can more effectively interact in their environment to produce better results than they could if they lacked in some part of their education.

More education allows one to see and take advantage of opportunities that others will miss. For example; because I have educated myself in identifying wild edible mushrooms, during

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