THE QUEST
Posted by anthonynorth on September 19, 2007
I left school when I was 15. Since then I haven’t undergone any formal education at all, and have never gained an academic qualification in anything. Neither have I ever read a ‘how to’ writing book, or attended a writing class.
For many years I was quite happy with my lack of education. I could read, write, do sums, and a good memory meant I remembered a lot of ‘facts’ from school. This, along with common sense, seemed to get me through life quite adequately.
It all changed when I came down with CFS.
I belonged to the ‘school’ that thought too much education was not required for normal life. I had managed to hold down jobs, advance in a career, hold a conversation on most subjects, and was generally considered ‘intelligent.’
Becoming ill with CFS, and the experiences that followed it, caused me to change this view. And this was based on a realization that, if no one could tell me what was wrong with me, I should find out why.
For this I needed knowledge, and that meant self-education.
Suddenly I found myself, at the age of 27, devouring books of all kinds in an attempt to educate myself. And the more I delved into learning, the more I realized that much of our knowledge was a con.
Basically, knowledge, today, is based on specialization, but the more I studied these specializations, the more I realized that it was just one type of knowledge. Modern learning had little to do with ‘holism’, or seeing things as a whole.
I suppose it began a quest. And I’m on it still.
© Anthony North, September 2007
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poseidonsmuse said
Wow Anthony! A motivated self-educator. You are certainly a rare find, indeed! I think formal education of any kind forces individuals to adopt a certain “specialist” area. I guess that is one way of advancing our knowledge of subjects through selected and advanced study and specialisation. This is all fine and dandy, and a necessary part of our overall understanding of the subject, but the individual tends to lose out if they cannot step back and see their selected subject in a broader view.
“Perspective” is so essential to this understanding. Hmm…Good thoughts here. Thanks for your perspective. By the way, even though I have two formal degrees, I still delve into unknown topics ALOT! Thus, I find myself in the same predicament as you…ALOT! So, one’s level of formal education means that one still has to go through this process of distillation and perspective…regardless of what they study…
anthonynorth said
Hi PM,
Thanks for that.
Certainly I don’t want specialisation to stop, or anything like that. It is a fantastic practice, and of great benefit. But it is only half of knowledge.
My dream would be for a new discipline as a bedfellow to specialisation – a more holistic approach to try to fill the gaps that specialisation misses. I’ve even given it a name – Patternology.
I wouldn’t even claim it could ever offer truth – simply suggest possibilities that specialisation may have missed.
observantbystander said
I like your term, Patternology, and I think you’ve pinpointed a real stumbling block to solving problems. The medical arena has attempted to address this problem with their team approach to treatment, but it seems to be inconsistently applied at times.
I’m also impressed with your drive to self-teach. I am of the opinion that some people simply do not excel at traditional formal classroom education, and that alternatives can and do work it the student is motivated. Great accomplishment, Anthony!
anthonynorth said
Hi OB,
Thanks for that.
In one way it was rather stupid why I left school at 15. With a major accident keeping me out of school a lot when I was younger, I was behind educationally. Yet, by 13 I’d caught up and ended up near the top in the top class. So I didn’t seem to have a problem academically.
But it had always been accepted that I’d be going into the family business. When it came to careers at school the staff simply said it was pointless – they all knew what I’d be doing. No one in my family seemed to mention anything but the business, so, at such a young age, I seemed to fall in line, unthinkingly.
That said, I soon realised the business wasn’t for me. But still, further education never entered my head.
Strange.
1poet4man said
Hello Anthony,
A careful reading of De-Schooling Society by Ivan Illich fairly rapidly shows that “education” via our current K-12, BA, MA, and PhD standards, helps us as a society determine to what level our fellows have failed rather than to what level they have succeeded.
There is no end to education. People in the Renaissance knew that and looked for it in every direction.
You call it “Patternology” I call it “Tangentiallity”. In the end everything is connected and the fun in life is following the dots with no preconception about where they lead, or where they “should” lead.
I left school at the end of the 9th grade and I have never looked back.
Poetman
anthonynorth said
Hi Poetman,
Welcome. Yes, Patternology is an attempt – well, a hope really – to reinstate the old-style Renaissance Man. I’d never dream of trying to tell specialists what is right or wrong in their own field – they argue enough in each field as it is. But the connections, the gaps inbetween. They’ve been ignored for too long.
And you’re right, education never ends. The day an intellectual consensus says that it’s coming to an end is a guarantee that, the day after, the paradigm will fall.
Thanks for your input. Do call again.
renaissanceguy said
Anthony North, and others above,
I couldn’t agree more. Just look at my nickname. I have always been fascinated with how one bit of knowledge is connected in a complex web with all other knowledge. Patternology is a good name, as metaknowledge is based on the underlying patterns inherent in everything. Tangentiality is a good word too, but tricky to say.
I have a lot of formal education, and I’m thankful for it. However, I have gotten a lot more education outside schools than inside. They have much to offer but are not all there is to education.
A Special Post on Specialization « Significant Pursuit by Renaissance Guy said
[…] 20th, 2007 · No Comments You have to read this blog post by AnthonyNorth at Beyond the Blog. Well, you don’t have to, but it’s really good. Anthony […]
renaissanceguy said
By the way, I recommended this post on my blog.
RubyShooZ said
You sound alot like me in alot of ways Anthony although you seem to be more organized in your life (maybe) and thoughts. I quit school at 15 too and spent time hitchiking cross country for several years. Later, in my twenties I did a couple of years at college that never really took me anywhere and were all in all fairly useless.
I have CFS and fybromyalgia (among other things) and with some of the huge lifestyle changes I have been undertaking since about 1990 I’ve had to teach myself a huge amount of things. When I really want to learn something, I will sometimes buy books but more often it takes researching and then putting into practice what I’ve learned – medically, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
ObservantBystander mentioned it in terms of healthcare and that certainly is an area where some are trying to integrate and become holistic in their approaches but many fail miserably. Hopefully as we grow as a society this will change. It seems to me that it’s inevitable that it *has* to change.
You said “The quest” and this is exactly what it is and hopefully will never stop.
Great topic and right up my alley.
Peace and quests.
~ RS ~
anthonynorth said
Good morning Renaissanceguy,
Many thanks for the link. Much appreciated.
Yes, I see Patternology – or P-ology, for those who like soundbites – as working with a constantly changing jig-saw. The pieces are the specialisations, and the ‘pattern’ they form into organises a snap shot of the present paradigm. It is in filling in those gaps where I think much future knowledge could lie.
Hi RubyShooZ,
Thanks for that great input. So often it is adversity that makes people think.
As I see it, prior to the rise of science 400 years ago, history was the story of various holistic systems, or religions. In some areas they had importance, but alone, they were usually repressive.
Science saved us from this, but went to the opposite end of the scale, trapping us in a specialised, compartmentalised, materialist world. In some areas this had importance, but alone, it is becoming repressive.
In other words, I think we’re on the rebound. My greatest dream would be to equalise these two systems to work alongside each other, giving us the benefits of both, and hopefully one taking away the dangers of the other.
I live in hope.