Knowledge is power and the pen is mightier than the sword. These were the popular sayings that my dad would always sing in my ears as a child. I guess his motive was to ignite my passion for learning and I'm glad to say that it worked.
Literacy is simply the ability to read, write and understand written language and also communicate effectively. This being said, I will opine with the fact that being literate makes one a better and effective communicator.
Being literate makes one better in terms of cognitive, mental, social, relationship wise and even as parents.There were lots of errors made by my parents that I don't repeat with my child. They did what they did based on their level of literacy and exposure.
Also being literate affords me the capability to raise my child with better educational standards. I don't have to leave all the work for teachers or ignore my child's learning growth because I know and understand how to read and write.
But I can also say that being learned does not necessarily make one a better person, especially in terms of the way we manage our emotions. Our emotions stem from our soul. Following closely behind is our choice power, , thought process and free will. Since we all have a soul, then I can say that we all can feel, choose, make decisions and think deeply. This has nothing to do with pen and books. Although, being learned can cause an upgrade to how we feel, make decisions and choices and to how we think.
Will being learned make people not hurt others?
No, being learned does not mean people would be less inclined to hurt others. Take my Nigerian leader (politicians) for an example. They are learned, some even to Ph.d level yet they hurt we their followers with reckless abandon. The way they make certain political and economic decisions for my country sometimes makes me wonder if the education passed through them or they passed through the education.
I think that having excess knowledge can puff one up to the point that they begin to think that they know it all and from my personal convictions, I know that a jack of all trades becomes a master of none. This implies that when people claim to be too knowledgeable, they tend to make silly mistakes that even an illiterate would not make.
Having the ability to read and write does not breed empathy and compassion in a person. To be able to do good and be a brother's keeper, such individual would have gotten such training from the home. The role of education is just to fine tune those values and home it to be sharp. That's why we have people with high emotional intelligence and quotient around us.
As far as being learned is advantageous and beneficial, it does not change the state of the heart. A mean illiterate will become meaner once his eyes of knowledge have been opened. That's when he would begin to use the hammer of the law with no mercy on others. Some would go as far make technological gadgets like bombs against others.
What makes a person a good neighbour, friend, son, daughter and partner is the state of his or her heart.
Thanks for reading. This is my entry to the #hivelearnersweekly initiative for w174e02.
Images used are mine.