Why we should never stop learning
Rethinking the value of education and the case for lifelong learning.
Life is messy. I’m reminded of this when I break down in front of my kid on a FaceTime call one morning. Now that they’re both adults, there are no pretenses of feigning to be something other than human. Which is a relief because what is mothering, if not one of the most vulnerably human of acts?
I was remembering how I started this newsletter a few months after dropping off my older kid at college. If my old blog was a document of life as a working mother, then this newsletter was a return to long-form writing during the messy decoupling of co-dependence, their transition into adulthood, and my own transformation beyond parenting.
All this to say…it’s crazy that she just registered for her final semester of college last week.
As my college senior was telling me about her final four class selections on the phone, I asked her if she thought college was worth it. Might be a weird question to ask your child, but the loud debate that college is an exorbitantly overpriced scam and a financial risk rattles through the far corners of my brain.
It remains to be seen whether her Bachelor of Science degree will net her a job in her field in what is the most shit job market in decades, but her answer? She had fun and learned a lot.
Both of my kids are majoring in STEM fields that have few clear pathways to jobs (and to be honest, what is a clear pathway these days other than, say, an engineering or nursing degree?). Because I was an art and music major, I naively thought that any science degree would be highly employable. It was to my surprise that undergraduate life and social science majors, such as biology or psychology are often viewed as “useless” degrees in terms of getting a job straight out of college. I had no idea.
For years, we pushed students into tech and computer science, only to be faced with an over saturation of job seekers in a gutted employment market. Somewhere along the way when college costs got so out of control, the worth of a college education became centered around job-readiness and job training. Now, we’re seeing an increased interest in the trades. “Learn a trade” has become the new “learn to code.”
But what about learning just to learn? We need to be careful not to conflate questions about the institutional value of colleges with anti-education or anti-intellectualism. They aren’t the same, nor does questioning college mean rejecting learning.
In principle, I too struggle with the absurd amount that we’re spending on their education. I could place a hefty down payment on another NYC apartment or buy a small house outright somewhere else with that money. I also acknowledge that it’s a choice that we’re making. But I have to believe—no, I must believe—that college is still a good investment. Even a liberal arts education that is so often maligned for being a “waste of money.”
My hope is that their education is training them for the age of uncertainty. That information and analytical literacy will teach them to adapt as tech and AI evolve. Machines can’t replicate community. It can’t replicate (not yet, anyway) ethical reasoning. The sole focus of college should not be job-readiness, but it should also teach you how to think independently, how to learn, and to keep asking the right questions.
And yet…
No level of education, no matter how rigorous, can compete with corporate greed. No amount of hard work and intellectual curiosity will outpace this economy or close the gap on wealth inequality. We’re headed towards an economic and social structure where the future of work will need to change.
Technocrats will argue that AI and automation is just a tool. But the same technocrats who are oligarchs are too drunk on dollar signs to stop the bleed and have no qualms about replacing human workers. Every company is racing to automate its operations and they’re competing with every other corporation optimizing for efficiency at the expense of human capital. We’re already seeing this play out.
In order to quell my children’s anxiety about something so out of our control, I’ve had to reconsider what it means to choose a college major. I think we need to challenge the assumption that deciding on a major automatically means deciding on a future career. What you study does matter for employment, but careers paths are so often non-linear that in the long view, it’s not as critical as it’s made out to be.
Besides, how many 17 and 18 year olds really know want they want to be when they grow up? It’s so much pressure to put on such a young age. I think back to my own meandering path from where I started in art school to where I ended my career as a UX/product designer. How many weird and odd jobs did I have in between? How many pivots, how many businesses and failed startups? I keep telling my children that the career you start with won’t be the one you end with. I remind them (and myself) that the college years are supposed to be a weird and wonderful mess, and that it’s okay to change your mind.
College should be structured not to teach specific skills but with an approach that centers more on the “why.” My own grad school education had roots in technology, but was structured around a creative framework. We experimented and built things. The program emphasized theory and collaboration more than any specific set of skills. Any tech that we used or coding language that we learned would become obsolete in a matter of years.
Everything is moving even faster now so it’s even more critical to teach students how to become independent learners. When we teach our students how to learn with metacognitive strategies, we teach them how to adapt and to teach themselves through any technological changes. When we teach them to fail without fear until it no longer hurts, we teach them that failure isn’t about weakness, but a way to recover and restart. It’s learning how to learn.
I have a friend who has this philosophy that since the future is unknowable, why not study what you love? Why not delve deep into the subjects that will make you truly excited and motivated to learn? On the surface, this can seem like a privileged sentiment similar to “follow your passion and the money will follow.” I really dislike that phrase, simply because it ignores the financial realities of most. But—a part of me is starting to come around to my friend’s perspective. We’ve seen all sorts of speculative future visions, but nobody really knows exactly where we’re headed with AI and automation.
What we do know is that we’re already seeing how the trend of anti-intellectualism and anti-science rhetoric spreads, and it’s dangerous. Those with power and influence capitalize on this trend for their own political and capitalistic gains. They want to keep as much of the population as they can uneducated so that they’re easily controlled.
When you become a more critical thinker, you learn how to identify disinformation and misinformation. You learn to understand contextual judgment and to even recognize your own bias.
Where I’ve landed, at least for now, is that the value of a college education is this: it cultivates a lifelong ability to learn.
Never stop learning. Research a topic deeply because it tickles your curiosity. Learn to grow your capacity to adapt and make sense of the constant changes the world demands of us. Learn because it makes you an active thinker, not a passive consumer.
Learning is the most human thing we can do. It’s our strongest defense against authoritarianism and our greatest weapon in the age of AI.
Fall, in photos
It turned cold, suddenly. A few nights ago as I was walking out of my apartment, I grabbed my puffy down jacket for the first time this season. And suddenly, it’s winter. I hope Fall isn’t leaving us just yet. Some photos from the week.
Related reading
A roundup of links & recs
To read:
FDA Commissioner on lifting warnings on hormone therapy for menopause (NPR)
If you haven’t yet heard, HRT will no longer carry the warning label linking it to cancer and dementia, among others. This is a significant shift and remarkable in that guidelines are aligning more closely with current evidence-based information. Ladies, if you’ve been hesitant to explore HRT, now’s the time to have a conversation with your doctor.Who is Rama Duwaji? Meet New York City's first Gen Z First Lady (Glamour)
Our new mayor-elect Mamdani’s wife is making her own splash. She’s an illustrator! And I’m old enough to be her mother 🫠.Media Went All-In on Diversity. Now It's in Full Retreat (MSN)
We knew the war against DEI would lead to cuts, but some networks (NBC) have eliminated entire editorial teams for Black, Latino, Asian American, and LGBTQ+ communities.Blind patients read again with smart glasses-linked eye implant. 80 percent of participants with ‘profound’ degrees of vision loss reported seeing better. (The Verge)
This is wild. An eye implant paired with smart glasses is helping people with an irreversible form of progressive blindness called macular degeneration to regain some of their vision.No degree, no discussion? China tightens the grip on influencers and its new law has sparked massive debate online. (The Economic Times)
So, this is interesting. China passed a law last month requiring influencers to have degrees and professional credentials when discussing topics like health, finance, medicine, and law. I mean…this makes sense?? The internet is a wild sea of misinformation out there. Maybe we should have required a similar law on certain members of the US cabinet.How Often Should I Be in Touch with My College Freshman? (Lisa Damour)
When my kids were younger, I read Lisa Damour’s books on navigating the rollercoaster that is teenage girls, so I was excited to see this podcast on a topic that I clearly do not have any guidelines on!Is inconvenience the cost of community? (Dazed)
Oh, how I understand this. It’s so easy to cancel plans, especially when the couch is so cozy, but getting motivated to get out of the house to meet a friend is worth the short-term inconvenience.
To make and eat:
Layered Mediterranean Vegetable Lasagna with Creamy Ricotta (Recipes by Carla)
This was delicious. A bit of prep work to roast the veggies, but well worth it. And since we’re just a household of two these days, it made enough for three dinners. We didn’t even get tired of eating the leftovers. Win/win.
Till next week,
JP
I think about this often, both in retrospect of my own piecemeal college and post-grad education, and what's on the horizon for our boys. I followed my interests/passions, but also while obeying my parents' insistence on walking away with 'employable skills.' It didn't work then and it's certainly not working now or soon.
What DID work for me was having learned resourcefulness, resilience and a belief in my abilities to do anything I felt enticed to do--financial return notwithstanding. While I still don't feel supported by our 'what will you be when you grow up?' culture, I continue to live and work on my own terms, not at all averse to the pivot(s)... that freedom might be the greatest advantage we can encourage in our kids. I realize there's some privilege here, but circumstances always apply even when not chosen.
Super on point as I'm trying to guide my 17 year old into picking a major. I am definitely falling on the "pick what you love" side. Since I just recently got my masters at age 52, she is well aware that you might have more than one career over time. For me, going back to school has reawakened my brain. I mean, i hope to get a job, but having a mental revitalization at this age has been transformative! Especially after losing myself to motherhood over the years. Worth it.