The Importance of Self Education in a Rapidly Changing World

Stephan Zimmermann
Sep 5, 2018 · 5 min read

The world is rapidly changing. Whether you like it or not, advancements in science and technology are being made that will alter the way we life forever.

In the years that follow, we will witness more change than the world has arguably ever seen before. Jobs will be lost and new jobs will be created. It is therefore crucial, now more than ever, to invest time in educating yourself and developing skills that will be important to future success.

How I view it, self education is the process of going beyond what you are required to learn or do, and develop your expertise in a wide range of areas. While a fairly simply concept, the amount of people who actually take the time to teach themselves something new on a daily basis is fairly minimal.

The Problem

The biggest reason that self education is critical is because our current education system is incredibly out of date. If you were to wake up someone who was in a comma for the past 70 years, one of the only things that they would recognize today is our education system.

Our current education system is designed for the masses and aimed at creating skilled factory laborers and white collar workers. While there are important concepts and skills taught at school, it is not sufficient to be considered particularly knowledgeable in today’s world. Classic schooling is crucial for doctors, lawyers, or any other profession that requires a high degree of qualification, but for most people, going beyond their required education and investing time in self education is of upmost importance.

The reason for this is that the world is changing at a pace unlike we have ever seen before. Since the introduction and widespread adoption of the internet, the world has already seen more change than the prior 100 years leading up to its invention. And now, with the continued advancement of technologies such as AI, biotech and infotech, the world is going to see incredible change over the next few years.

What this means for most people is that the current jobs they have are most likely not going to exist in the next 20 to 50 years. Especially unskilled jobs that are focused on manual labor are going to be almost entirely replaced by AI and other advanced technologies in the foreseeable future.

Of course, with the loss of certain jobs comes the creation of news ones. The problem, however, is that for the first time in history, the creation of these new jobs may create the first ever “useless class”. As pointed out in Yuval Noah Harari’s new book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century”, since AI and other technologies will most likely replace all unskilled labor, most new jobs that are created as a result of this will no longer be unskilled jobs, but rather jobs that “will probably demand high levels of expertise and will therefore not solve the problem of unemployed, unskilled laborers.”

This presents a critical problem for a majority of the population. While nobody’s job is safe from the future of technology, a lot of common skills that people have in today’s day and age will be deemed useless or insufficient in the upcoming age of AI, biotech and info tech.

The Solution

In order to solve this problem and avoid being part of the “useless class”, self education is critical.

While the future of technology is very difficult to predict and it is thus hard to make an accurate judgment of what skills will be useful in the future, it is imperative to stay on top of the latest trends in technology, medicine, and politics. Doing so will ensure that you stay ahead of the curve and are able to more effectively prepare and adjust to the changes in society that will inevitably come our way.

Take, for example, the modern day truck driver. While he currently has a job, it is almost inevitable that self driving technology will become sophisticated enough to where companies no longer will have to hire truck drivers and can instead automate all of their vehicles. In fact, Tesla has already created a fully functioning, self driving car that is already driving along the California Highway, as shown in this video . Once that truck driver loses his job, he will enter a job market that is no longer seeking for as much unskilled labor, but is looking for people with practical world skills that can be applied to new and advancing companies.

In this hypothetical case, it is in the best interest of the truck driver to invest more time into self education before the inevitable happens. Whether it be by listening to informative audiobooks or podcasts during his long drives, or getting in touch with people in different industries, gaining insights and developing skills that will make him a valid asset to the future of the marketplace is crucial.

This, while it may seem fairly simply in theory, is harder than it sounds. Today, people are constantly distracted by their smartphones, computers, and TVs and are diverting less of their attention to developing their mind and body. Taking time away from binge watching TV shows and the newest Youtube videos and diverting that to bettering yourself will prove hugely beneficial as it won’t leave you stranded in the future.

Conclusion

In the next 20 to 50 years, the world will see more change than it has in the previous century leading up to it. While this is a scary thought for most, it can also be a positive force as new technologies and advancements in science will allow for a lot of life’s everyday problems to be handled more effectively.

The question, however, is what will happen to the work force once jobs no longer require unskilled labor and a lot of our current skills and knowledge are deemed useless?

I therefore argue that it is critical, now more than ever, for everyone to invest more time into self education. Keeping up with the trends and being aware of what is happening in different industries will allow you to stay ahead of the curve and be more prepared to handle the changes that are headed our way.


Originally published at stephanzimm.com on September 5, 2018.

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Stephan Zimmermann

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Trying to create a better world and inspire everybody to become the best possible versions of themselves

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