We are overwhelmed with information from all quarters. Two items, evidence of very different attitudes to knowledge struck me forcibly in recent days.
The first was that certain students are paying high fees to private tutors to help them write their essays. This is what their teachers within their educational institutions are there for. If they write a poor essay their teacher can see they have a problem and address it. If they get outside help, the problem will not be addressed and the piece of paper they receive at the end of their course will not represent the information they have actually acquired and therefore will be less real use to them in later life. Even if you cannot get a job in your field, at least you should have furnished your mind sufficiently to enjoy life in a broader way. It isn't a question of letters after your name.
The second was the television programme "How to Build a Satellite". This showed a work-force, not all of them by any means University educated, totally dedicated to producing an absolutely perfect piece of machinery. They were building the casing of a communications satellite. This was destined to be launched into space and had to last 15 years. No question of the recipient keeping the packaging in case it didn't work and had to be returned! This has to work first time. Each of the thousands of components has to be tested many times over. A lot of the activities are in an extremely sterile environment, involving very careful attention to the rules. Total cooperation is essential. The work-force are mostly long-standing employees and their pride in their work is palpable and obviously makes them feel worthwhile and important and contented. Then, when it is completed, equal care has to be exercised in the packing and shipping to Portsmouth for the electronics to be inserted. Never, at any stage, can anything be falsified or the work skimped. What those people have learnt has become part of them and brought them satisfaction.
Because most of our daily activities have become so immeasurably easier over recent years we tend to give the young the impression that everything is easy. That is a real disservice to them. Overcoming difficulties is one form of fun.
This blog is a plea for common sense in public policy. Our leaders don't seem to have any. They just make daft rules for us to follow. We need to assert our right to use our own good sense instead of ticking boxes which can only say 'yes' or 'no'.
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