Meaning of Education

I asked a question at the beginning of that last post that I never really answered: What does it mean to be educated?

Frankly, this is a very difficult question to answer.  I'm sure countless others far wiser than me have attempted to express it adequately.  Therefore, I feel sure that my attempt would at best prove fruitless and at worst exhibit my ignorance on the subject.

Instead, I choose to answer a different, though similar, question:  What does it mean to gain an education?

Consider a room containing files which direct the workings of the house.  In the beginning this room is small and completely disorganized.  As files come in they are tossed into a pile on the floor.  These files, when retrieved to be used, are selected almost at random.  There may be disorder, but the files come in droves and in a seemingly endless flow.  Eventually, some semblance of organization begins to take form as different piles congregate together.

If you haven't already caught on to my analogy, this is a child's mind: full to the brim with knowledge pertinent to their short life and limited experience, but still welcoming in and searching for more.  As of yet, though, their bits of understanding and piles of facts are not complete nor organized.  This is what education is for.

As we become increasingly educated, our room expands, we start to furnish it with filing cabinets to organize and later computers to store all the data we are processing.  These advances allow us to more effectively search and retrieve the files we need at any given time.  Possibly the two most important components of this progressive mind are, first, to be able to cross reference and make connections between all the many bits of data we have acquired, and, second, we are able to be more selective in the files we accept and the files we reject.

Returning to my initial question about being educated, I have to wonder, is there even such a thing?  I know I may be arguing semantics, but I don't believe that there is ever a time when we can stop and say, "I've arrived.  I'm educated.  I need not learn anything more."  Because the moment we decide we have arrived, we close the door to that room and entropy takes over.  I have felt  this in my life over the last couple of years, and the experience of opening up that room again and allowing the ideas and principles to flow in and out again has brought me inexpressible joy.  I believe that to being educated is all about keeping that door open.

Now, having this definition of education in mind, how do you feel your education matches up?  Do you feel satisfied with the state of your mind?  If not, I hope you'll consider coming on my quest with me!