9 Thoughts: Doug Casey’s Take, Ep.79 — Mark of an Educated Man
This publication focuses on Episode 79 of Doug Casey’s Take — Mark of an Educated Man.
Here are my 9 Thoughts on Episode 79 of Doug Casey’s Take — Mark of an Educated Man:
- Self-Determination
“An educated person can write their own script, or at least a large part of it. He/she is self-determined.”
Self-determination is vital. The ability to ‘write your own script’ means that you, and you alone, get to determine your future and your success. No system or individual can dictate otherwise.
2. Know Your Rights
“An educated individual knows their rights and knows how to defend those rights.”
When you know your rights, you are able to legally defend yourself. An uneducated person tends to feel uncomfortable with oppressing legislation, and normally allows it to continue to happen because they do not know any better.
3. Useful Knowledge
“An educated man/woman possesses useful knowledge. They know how to build a house, write a song, make a boat, grow food, or design clothing. They know something real, and if there’s something that they don’t know, they know that they can learn it, and they know how to go about learning it.”
The theory is that a truly educated person lost in a forest will learn to survive. This is the advantage of being educated. When the individual realizes they are in a scenario that they are not familiar with, they know they have what it takes to obtain and process unknown knowledge effectively.
Having knowledge helps you gain more knowledge.
4. Relationships
“An educated man/woman can form healthy attachments anywhere they go, because they understand the dynamics of relationships.”
When you are educated, it is much easier to expand your horizons beyond what you are familiar with. Forming meaningful international connections are normally more fruitful for those who are educated, because their success is not tied to their immediate surroundings.
5. Skepticism
“An educated person can discover truth without following the lead of experts. Not to say that in many cases that’s exactly what you would do, but you always reserve some skepticism that what you’re being told is the whole truth, and you know how to compare different accounts.”
The ability to rationalize information, whether it’s from a reliable source or not, is critical. If you are able to determine what is true and what isn’t, you are less prone to get caught in conspiracies or other harmful behaviors.
6. Creation
“An educated person has the capacity to create things — new things, new experiences, new ideas. They can make something out of something else. They can see the raw material around them that’s common, and they can use it to create new things.”
The ability to not only make do with what you have, but to thrive with whatever is given to you is a key driver of meaningful success. An educated individual knows how to think and create beyond standard expectations.
7. Values
“An educated man/woman possesses a blueprint of personal value. They know at all times who they are.”
An educated person is capable of determining what is right or wrong, as well as why things are right or wrong. The more educated a person becomes, the less flawed their moral compass becomes.
8. Boredom
“Time does not hang heavily on an educated person’s hands. They could be alone, and very rarely experience a sense of boredom. It’s not a question of having too much time, it’s a question of not having enough time.”
An educated person would typically find something to do with the time that they have — there’s no real time-wasting or procrastination. Experiencing boredom is simply connected to the brain’s ability to think of something to do.
“If you feel bored, you’re the problem.”
9. Always Learning
“An educated person understands and accepts why death and ageing are necessary. An educated person learns from each age of their life, even right down to the last age.”
No matter how educated you are, there will always be something you don’t know. As the quote says: “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” (The more things you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t really know). An educated individual is always learning.
There is a fantastic quote that validates this point. The legendary cellist, Pablo Casals, was asked why he continued to practice into his 90s. He responded, “Because, I think I’m making progress.”
