“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
Ancient Greeks called it “paideia”, education is a valuable and necessary tool to help us understand the world around us, develop ourselves and contribute to society. In modern times, education is almost a synonym to training. People study towards obtaining a degree to get a better job and earn money to live their lives. This should not be the case. Education is a never-ending journey that begins the moment we are born. The degrees we obtain are just a part of this journey. Getting a degree does not mean that you are educated, and certainly you do not need one to be educated. Looking at what many philosophers and scholars have said about the importance of education, there is a common pattern. The main objective of education should be to motivate people to become better citizens. Plato advocates that education is a process of self-development and is also crucial for the political affairs and the political participation of the citizens. Educated citizens could have a better understanding of the society in terms of its affairs and its rules better, and they would be able to influence the political life of the state and help it progress.
Educated people would be able to identify sources and evaluate the significance and validity of any piece of information. This last part is very important in modern times, as we constantly get bombarded with information. Whether it is the feed of a news outlet, an online forum or the social media, access to information is now easier than it has ever been in the history of mankind. However, attached to that, we also get inaccurate or false information and fake news that try to shape the public opinion. It is important, therefore, to seek the type of education and knowledge that will improve our critical thinking and will guide us in evaluating every piece of information that we read so that we will not fall victims to disinformation. An education that will help us grow, make us better citizens and in turn, allow us to make the world a better place step-by-step.
Μὴ τοίνυν μηδ’ ὃ λέγομεν εἶναι παιδείαν ἀόριστον γένηται. νῦν γὰρ ὀνειδίζοντες ἐπαινοῦντές θ’ ἑκάστων τὰς τροφάς, λέγομεν ὡς τὸν μὲν πεπαιδευμένον ἡμῶν ὄντα τινά, [643ε] τὸν δὲ ἀπαίδευτον ἐνίοτε εἴς τε καπηλείας καὶ ναυκληρίας καὶ ἄλλων τοιούτων μάλα πεπαιδευμένων σφόδρα ἀνθρώπων· οὐ γὰρ ταῦτα ἡγουμένων, ὡς ἔοικ’, εἶναι παιδείαν ὁ νῦν λόγος ἂν εἴη, τὴν δὲ πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐκ παίδων παιδείαν, ποιοῦσαν ἐπιθυμητήν τε καὶ ἐραστὴν τοῦ πολίτην γενέσθαι τέλεον, ἄρχειν τε καὶ ἄρχεσθαι ἐπιστάμενον μετὰ δίκης… ἀλλ’ ὁ νυνδὴ λόγος ἡμῖν ὁμολογηθεὶς μενέτω, ὡς οἵ γε ὀρθῶς πεπαιδευμένοι σχεδὸν ἀγαθοὶ γίγνονται, καὶ δεῖ δὴ τὴν παιδείαν [644β] μηδαμοῦ ἀτιμάζειν, ὡς πρῶτον τῶν καλλίστων τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἀνδράσιν παραγιγνόμενον· καὶ εἴ ποτε ἐξέρχεται, δυνατὸν δ’ ἐστὶν ἐπανορθοῦσθαι, τοῦτ’ ἀεὶ δραστέον διὰ βίου παντὶ κατὰ δύναμιν. (Πλάτων, Νόμοι 643ε-644β)
“Then let us not leave the meaning of “paideia” ambiguous or ill-defined. At present, when we speak in terms of praise or blame about the bringing-up of each person, we call one man educated and another uneducated, although the uneducated man may be sometimes very well educated for the calling of a retail trader, or of a captain of a ship, and the like. For we are not speaking of education in this narrower sense, but of that other education in virtue from youth upwards, which makes a man eagerly pursue the ideal perfection of citizenship, and teaches him how rightly to rule and how to obey. [Education] is the first and fairest thing that the best of men can ever have, and which, though liable to take a wrong direction, is capable of reformation. And this work of reformation is the great business of every man while he lives.” (Plato, Laws 643d-644b)
Nikos Tzivanakis 