Thinking requires the desire to want to understand life’s mysteries.
Education requires enrollment.
Thinking is a journey of exploration into uncharted territories.
Education is a process through a curriculum with the prize of obtaining proof of attendance and successful completion, which is most often represented by a displayable certificate or diploma.
Thinking new things enhances life and keeps the mind young, energized, and engaged. It is closer in behavior to play than work.
Education can be a dreary slog. It is following the required well-worn path of education’s certified gatekeepers. In education it is more important to prove competency than to prove creativity and originality.
Thinking’s purpose is to improve thinking skills.
Education’s purpose is to improve the prospects of getting a good job.
Bait and Switch
Often people are hired based on their credentials because employers think the level of documented education reflects a strong ability to think and perform at a high level of competency.
It is also the case that many who obtain strong educational credentials believe this is proof of their higher level of intellectual competency.
If you want to learn new things, look for people who don’t think like everyone else, but are also grounded in logic, ethics, and morality. Sometimes they are annoying because they are nonconformists and sometimes they are nonconformists because they are wise and understand their thinking is antithetical to groupthink conformity.
I would add that it’s entirely possible to get an education by a less glamorous route. I’ve failed at so many things but there is always the reward of being a little smarter the next time around. Most of my education has been without curriculum, guide books, pomp, ceremony and certificates. It has been through trial and error, not yielding big paychecks but sure making great stories.