sunspot cycle

Higher earnings are often regarded as the main reason behind a college education. It does indeed lead to higher earnings, but they can be regarded as a useful bye-product of much bigger prize. That is a new life that will never be quite the same as before.
A person who engaged in higher education late in her life testified to its value for her. She explained that it had changed her by giving her new and absorbing interests even though she was over sixty years old. In fact she had attended college earlier in her life but had not been ready for it and had spent most of the time engaged in romantic liaisons.
Not long ago the word used to describe university study was ‘reading’. Higher education entailed reading broadly under the guidance of a tutor. The most common areas of reading were philosophy, politics and economics. The were usually referred to as ‘PPE’. The final honours degree examinations at Cambridge were referred to as the ‘tripos’. They set out to assess students’ broad reading in the above three areas.
One spoke about, ‘going up to Cambridge to read PPE’. The verb is important because it implies writing. In fact the wisdom of civilized, literate societies is stored in writing. Reading what has been written is like unlocking the wisdom of the past, so that new thought and original ideas can be built on the foundations of the past. Close parallels between Chinese and Western civilizations are becoming apparent now as the Bamboo Curtain is drawn aside to reveal the benefits of literacy there as in the West. On both sides of the world universal truths were stored in different writing modes. Higher education is when individuals may discover more about those truths.
Most doctoral degrees are called ‘doctors of philosophy’ because philosophy is the venerable seer of academic disciplines. It engages anywhere and everywhere applying logic to topics as widely divergent as the ideal state and the displacement of water by weights dropped in it.
Red herrings might distract a hermit philosopher like Dr Doolittle who thought deeply about doing little. At an institute of higher learning tutors and fellow students can help to direct students’ thought towards the central ideas of a discipline, around which new developments form.
Some students might have difficulty discerning the relevance in a such like politics if they are interested in physics or chemistry. However, politics is a science of power relationships, as chemistry studies the relationships between elements. Some slight background in politics would not be a waste in any education, and would more probably be a benefit.
Respect for all disciplines, and catholic knowledge can only be helpful in laying down a firm foundation for lifelong learning. Sudden insights into the relevance of things have sparked many leaps forward. The ‘Aha’ response should not belong only to chimpanzees and young children but also to the well read, mature mind.
Economics is another invaluable background to the academic world. It allows access to seminal writings that have shaped the world as we know it. If sudden happenings in the shifting sway of current affairs are seen against the background of some knowledge of economic theory they will be more interesting, even though economists are famous for being so often wrong.
The Greek ideal of the ‘golden mean’ should play a part in planning a college education. The well rounded man would have been moved to tears by poetry, though capable of lopping off the head of an enemy in battle. The well rounded advocate for criminal justice may come from the courts and be able to relax at home by listening to cultivated music.