Why is it that most people are not motivated to educate themselves and become all they can be?

Question

If someone offered to pay for your college tuition/books, etc. would you actually GO to college and TRY your best? WHY or why not?

Answer 1

I'll answer your second question first. If someone offered to pay for my college tuition/books, etc, I would actually go to college and try my best. And that is because I love learning. But I have already been to college. And I can tell you that many of the ideas I learned about in college were fascinating because I realized that, at one time or another, I had already thought of them prior to college. It was fascinating to discover that. I had imagined things to be a certain way, yet I never took the chance to structure my opinions, give clarity to my thoughts, put forth the effort to organize my ideas. And college did that for me.

As far as your second question: Most people are motivated and educated enough to study and go to college. There is no doubt about that. More people are educated now than ever before. But I think you are focusing on the "become all they can be" part. Let me give you my belief on that.

I made a list of all the possible activities a man can do: go fishing, hiking, writing, cycling, painting, go to the mall, date someone, have sex, etc. And I realized that most people do two to four of these things consistently. They'll throw in a fifth to get some novelty, but they generally stick to two to four things to do for fun.

Say: go fishing, go to the club, have sex with the girlfriend, read.

And so I started to focus on the specific beliefs and way of thinking associated to every activity. And generally what I find is that 80% of the activities I have listed have no emphasis on promoting education, or liberal thinking, or intellectualism, or the importance of achievement, or getting ahead and tactically changing one's life for the better.

For example fishing: it has a determined way for how men should be. It has a specific way of how women should be. And
its scripts are set, demanding of its participants to sit quietly, talking about FAMILY problems, or NATURE.

It's because of these "scripts" that all these activities ultimately go nowhere.

Now, from the remaining 20% of the activities that value some kind of intellectualism, many of them are like Bible study. They simply focus on the Bible, with a very monolithic perspective. They don't necessarily head into UnBibleish territory. For example, few will swing back and forth from, say, a passage from Paul into a correlation of it in world affairs, and from that point into the significance of the passage in your own life, or explore if the passage has any ethical merit given the times, etc. The passage simply becomes a memorization drill, more than anything. So there isn't much for stretching the mind.

And this is in large part due to how education has been monetized, in my opinion. I was part of a few "minority" courses in college, eventhough I never really considered myself a minority for being Hispanic (I am Spanish, not Mexican or South American, which is a significant difference). Anyway, I was asked to participate in these courses so I wouldn't feel alone. And most of the emphasis of these all-men classes was to "take advantage of the system," as if saying, "This is what is going to make you money, and you need money because you are a poor minority." So the point of going to college, the point of enduring the tests, the point of enduring the study, the point of getting the degree was to simply get a better paycheck.

I tested this belief in non-minority friends and found that, surprisingly, the same message ran through their heads. I met hundreds, literally hundreds of guys and girls who wanted to study to get a "big job" that paid lots of money. And so the point of college was to: a. get a high paying job, and b. have fun. Because they associated the drinking and partying and crazy college life to their own college experience.

And while I did see hints for a desire to understand more, to really grasp a belief or idea, I was often disapointed because I noticed how their study was only superficial. My friends would read a book, or half a book, and believe they had already figured out everything they needed to figure out about the subject. And then I realized that "Monkey see, monkey do" is not necessarily too far fetched. We DO live in a bubble, most of the time. And it's necessary to sometimes step out of that bubble and realize that going randomly from here to there, living our lives without any sense of direction is seen as the thing to do.

Inspiring for something better is a crazy notion.

Believing that you can change the world sounds "too dramatic." After all, "you're not living in a movie."

And wanting to be all you can be sounds "selfish," or "as if you are on a high horse, believing you're better than everyone else."

This is generally what people think. And because we don't want to be ridiculed for striving for something better, we back down, and join the "happy, fat, and lazy" crowd. After all, being like the rest of the people around us is normal. It's what being a human being is about.

And yet you constantly read about the people who make a difference in the world being loners, or introverts, or - if extroverted - they are not your regular extrovert. They don't talk to you and connect with you to be your friend. They network with you and make you feel like you know them for years because they want you to get the job done. So there is a very distinctive personality in achievers.

They don't follow the herd. They don't follow the scripts. But since most everything will tell us to follow scripts, MOST people, like you said, don't really try, and settle for messy relationships with their wives or lovers, uncommunicative relationships with their sons or daughters, awkward relationships with their bosses, high and never-ending house payments because they feel they MUST own a house to be happy, and end up buying Valentine gifts, Birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, etc. And then they fall for things like "Love Day," or any other ridiculous holiday promoting consumerism above anything.

I believe that taking some personal pride, even if only just a little, enough to decide to do something extraordinary, and actually do it despite the incredulous response of the crowd is the antidote to a life of averageness.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I think most people are motivated to become all that they can be. Most of the time most people are doing the best they can with what they have, whether that is what they have emotionally, financially, physically, intellectually, socially, etc.

I would go to college and try - I already have. But I was fortunate to have the right situation at the right time. Not everyone is that fortunate. And college isn't necessarily the answer for everyone either. Many people become very successful and are the best they can be without college.

Answer 3

People are tricky. I went to college after getting divorced. I paid for it myself and am still paying off loans, but I know that it was the best thing to do. People have to want to learn, college is hard work. If someone offered to pay for my college, tuition, books and all, I would make the most of it. Sometimes it takes others a while to realize that higher education IS for their best interest. I have told my son that since he was in Kindergarten, plus it helped that he saw me going back to school. I know that he will make the right decision and continue to educate himself.

Answer 4

Education and college are often two different things. A lot of people I went to college with got out of there knowing about as much as the day they started. In fact, if I had it to do over again, I would've gotten a job for a few years, waited until I could be a non-traditional student (and get more grants) and gone back without having to get a five-figure loan. Then I would've gone into a section that allowed me to gain more business skills and contacts.

But that's how it is for lots of people -- they know what they wanted to do AFTERWARD. Which is expensive, and kind of annoying.

Then again, the public library (and now the internet) give us access to unimaginable levels of information, for free. But enough of hearing myself type, why do more people not want to improve themselves?

Because they're comfortable where they are. You'll often find that the least educated people, having found they can survive okay without all this "book learnin'" don't encourage their kids to get educated, because they don't consider it necessary. Since a lot of those folks live hand-to-mouth, they figure there's nothing beyond doing everything they can just to physically survive... and when you mention to them all the people that have gone from nothing into having lots of money, all the toys, even assets that make them really rich, either:
a) their eyes glaze over, and they have no idea what to make of it, or
b) they make excuses, like they never had "opportunity," or there's a "system" designed against them, or any number of other flavors of bs.

The sad part is, the people on this website are the proverbial choir, and preaching from us to ourselves is pretty pointless. Every day in every ghetto, tens of millions of people have no hope, or worse, no desire. A bunch of beaten dogs who almost welcome the familiar crack of their master's stick.

Answer 5

Absolutely it makes it so much easier to develop in other ways while in school. And or pay closer attention to what you are learning a really seek excellence.

The question of weather or not to persue high education and the betterment of yourself seems like a no brainer. If someone is really having serious questions about this type of thing, they really need to take a step back and try to figure out what is holding them back in life. Is it bad influences, low self worth, ect... I would really incourage that person to squarethat stuff away, and pursue the absolute best they can be.

Answer 6

First, nobody just pays for all your college tuition and books.
Education is a money industry like any other.
Secondly, perhaps the people who do not wish to go to college are already 'all they can be' or at least 'all they wish to be'.
Don't worry, they'll do fine supporting the media industry by watching TV every spare minute.

Answer 7

No, I wouldn't, and it's because some of us are just born slackers, depending on who you ask. I always tested in the 90th percentile on state tests in school, never had to study for anything and still managed to get A's, and my counselor in 9th grade said if I stuck it out in school, I could be valedictorian, yet I still dropped out and got my GED. Why did I drop out? Because being around hundreds of students that compete and fight with each other makes me sick. I hated cliques, I wore black, and I didn't participate in extracurricular activities. College is a joke now. Most kids only go for the sororities and parties, and enter their last years of college without a clue of what they will major in. I didn't want that or even be around it. Now I'm working on my nursing license on my own time, through night classes at a tech school, without the pressure of college or students getting on my last nerve, and I can be with my family when I need to be. Some people may call that being a slacker, but I don't. I take care of people, I'm with my family unless I have to pull a double, which isn't too often, and I never had to waste my time on a degree that probably wouldn't have made me happy anyways.

Sometimes, people create their own path, instead of the more mainstream, crowded one.

Answer 8

In answer to your first question, I have come to the conclusion that lots of people do not try to improve themselves because then people might actually expect results from them. It truly can be a little scary to accept the responsibility.

Next question: I would absolutely DIVE on the chance to tackle some more education on the free ride you talk about. I would try my best to make sure you or any other donor felt like their investment was wisely used. I busted my butt when I finally got to go to college. Got myself a pretty 4.0 coming out of community college with my Associates Degree. Proceeded to keep on working my butt off (Part time work, full time classes, taking care of housework, kids and husband) when I got to transfer to a university. Came out of there with a 3.7.
Was it hard?
Yes!
Was I exhausted most of the time?
Oh yeah.
Was it worth it?
Damn right.

Answer 9

I saw a bumper sticker the other day, went something like this, "The last time government and religion got together, people were burned at the stake." I expect if you mix scholarship and religion, people will continue to blow themselves up, either literally or figuratively. Why do people insist on incoherent beliefs. There are some things I would die for, the idea of any god is not one of them.

Answer 10

why do you think college is the way to become all you can be? a lot of ppl with little or no education are much smarter/more developed etc than people with years fof college ed.