Does education make one's life happier?

Question

Our parents and society encourage us to gain an education to as high a level as possible. But are educated people any happier/better off than non - educated people...many people say alot of happiness/success is simply about 'blagging it' or 'playing the game' ie saying the right thing to the right person at the right time - be it family problems, relationships, friendships, careers,financial success, social life etc What do you guys think? Thanks to all that reply.

Answer 1

I believe education does enable you to achieve more in society..

Exam results are a sign of achievement .. commitment and dedication

Answer 2

Well, there are no guarentees.

There is a strong (though not absolute) correlation between level of education and income; thus, you're less likely to be poor, the higher you go.

But I think it's essential to make a distinction between getting pieces of paper and becoming educated.

Here are some of the advantages to being well-educated:

By knowing more, you're able to see through a lot of bull that less educated people aren't in a position to see through. (If you understand statistics, you can raise appropriate questions about how a given statistic was come up with, for instance.)

Being educated opens up a more vast world; you've more interesting things to think about, and, with a basic grounding in a variety of areas, you can take in more, learn more. Read more interesting books; follow more difficult lines of thought.

Being educated (in the schooling sense) gives you a chance to fall in love with fields; to find something that engrosses you; when you can make a living at it, you're doing work you love, rather than something you have to force yourself to do just to pay the bills.

BTW, happiness and success are NOT the same things.

There's being financially comfy, and doing things you love (which is much more likely when you have an education); compared to having big piles of money, but being stressed and miserable.

Not having any money at all really sucks.

But beyond that, money is NOT well-correlated with happiness, that I can see.

Answer 3

Hi Dublinboy (If that is your real name..... :-) )
I think education is great, but I'm not sure it's got anything to do with happiness!
I think happiness has as much to do with your attitude to life as anything else.
There are people who 'have everything' and feel deeply depressed and those who seem to have nothing, but laugh and smile their way through their lives. (and vice versa....)
If you're asking whether getting an education is worth the effort, I'd say absolutely yes.
Not just so you can be 'successful' but because learning about the world and the people who live in it, is exciting and mind-expanding. It can give you a look at the bigger picture and your place in it. If you have the choice, (and some people don't) I say go for it!
Good luck :-)

Answer 4

How do you know that the people who say success is about blagging it aren't blagging when they say it?

Blaggers eventually pay a heavy price for their so called success. Look at Tony Blair and ask yourself would you want to be in his position. They have no real freinds and can't even respect themselves.

Education is a good thing, but for me that meant learning and understanding things not collecting scraps of paper.

You can have a happy life through hard work and with good freinds, but the right education always makes things easier.

I would have died years ago but for my extensive education, so I'm not going to complain about it.

Answer 5

If you just go by the numbers, then, yes, more education equates to being happier. But, remember, Bill Gates and so many others were "drop outs" and became very successful. The thing to remember is, that a certain level of education is DEMANDED for a specific job; if that job makes you happy, no more education is necessary. In fact, once you attain the level required, additional education will, more than likely, cause you to be less happy.
The same thing is true of money, power, prestige, whathaveyou. Everyone has a level that will make them "happy"; more of any of these factors could result in less happiness, not more.
You just need to find your level. It's like they say, "Money DOESN'T buy happiness!"

Answer 6

It all depends on your decisions. If you want an education you will be happy, if you don't and you are told to do it, you won't be as happy. Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation. It would be hard to say whether someone with an education is happier vs someone without an education. Certainly an education allows more possibilities. Sure you could do very well in life and enjoy your time without going to school, but education is not supposed to direct your life it is a support for life. It is an opportunity to learn more from other people.

Answer 7

if you haven't "blagged" your education then its good. you've achieved something by grafting instead of perfecting ya BS skills.

As for bits of paper, they are no use without a thing everyone should have.. common sense.. if you are the brain of britian, the qualifications don't mean much..

as for making you happier , no. same with money.. you can be equally unhappy however much education or money etc you have.

it's part of the equation in the sense of yes we all need money to live, but some people take that to excess.

Answer 8

i don't think it does. sure, if you have an education then life would be so much easier coz you got the £££ to get yourself through it but it doesn't mean you'll be happier.
i'm not saying being educated is a bad thing, but if you look at it this way - you have a lot of education, you want to put it to good use so you'll want a good job. but good jobs are hard to find, and many people would want that job so there's not much chance of getting that job. but since they expect you to be clever, they would probably take a joke a bit too seriously so friendships wouldn't be that stable.
but people with less of an education tend to go into retail and there's loads of jobs in retail so it would be easier although the £££ isn't as good. their friendships would probably be easier since not much is expected from them, and since they're in retail they would have quite a bit of experience/confidence when meeting new people.

Answer 9

Parents only want what is best for their child. Not every child has brains to burn so has long as they try there best that is the main thing. Education does not make you any happier but perhaps will help you secure a good job. I have a child with special educational needs it s more important for me to see her happy and smiling than her exam results. Mind you she does her best.

Answer 10

it depends. I went to uni to study Business Studies but dropped out after 2 years because i was unhappy. I didn't want to study any more, it was a subject I wasn't particularly interested in but I was just doing it in the hope of getting a better paid job. Then I realised that's not all life's about.

Having said that, now that i've left, i get very bored if i'm not learning something. Except this time it's what I want to learn and not what I have to. I get much more pleasure out of learning things in areas I enjoy, and at my own pace.

For example, just now I am learning all about photography, editing and publishing of photographs. Because it is something I am passionate about, I am much happier.

Answer 11

You answered it yourself, life is all about the ability to blag your way through it. You need a basic standard of education, read and write and maths etc, after that it's blagtastic. I did it, left school no qualifications, now 42yrs old and in senior management.