When I was in my fourth year of University I took a one-term class in which the final lab exam consisted of viewing and identifying plants. I memorized the names, common and Latin, and did well on the exam. However, as I left the lab building I felt that the names that I had memorized (not learned) were dropping beside me as I walked. I believe that with the exception of perhaps three or four of those names which I still recall every name fell within a block of this building.
Unfortunately, what society calls education often focuses on memorization rather than learning.
Recently Open Culture posted a video of Father Guido Sarducci (of Saturday Night Live fame) discussing his Five Minute University in which he describes how in only five minutes (and for the modest tuition fee of $20) he can teach a person what a University graduate remembers five years after he or she graduates.
I'm sure that Sarducci would agree that learning, not education, is what is important.
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