The price of indifference is more than the price of learning.
In some cases, being ignorant might actually be beneficial. This is especially true if you are able to walk away from a crime relatively unscathed. But really, think of all the time and money it takes to be charged, to appear in court, and to hire lawyers, etc. It’s far better to be prepared and stay out of trouble.
Ignorance has a monetary worth, and the employment market reflects this. Think of it this way: “Who gets paid the most?’ inexperienced or illiterate??”
The obvious response is that those with higher levels of education are compensated better than those with lower levels of education. There is a general correlation between education and value.
However, it’s important to remember that not all schooling is created equal. Scales of qualification for different professions are based on the level of knowledge and competence that practitioners have. Law, economics or scientific degrees are not a guarantee of a high salary or a better salary than a salesperson. A real estate agent or a stockbroker does not guarantee that a person would make more money from real estate than a private investor; the same holds true for private share traders; the licenced broker can have sufficient expertise to be a broker, but not enough information to be a competent trader. Like a salesman who is paid on commission but has no MBA or economics degree, a person with those credentials might make an excellent manager in a company and earn much above average wages. However, that person’s employer could be a salesman who has none of those credentials but is paid on commission.
Education can be divided into two categories. It’s possible to be both scholarly and practical. It’s possible to gain a greater understanding of a subject through academic schooling, but it doesn’t help with the application of that information in the real world. There are distinct differences between academic research and applied knowledge. If you’ve ever read the instructions for building a house, you know the difference between reading about the process in a book and really doing it yourself. In reality, things are quite different from how they appear in the textbooks.
You can learn more from academics than you can from those who have really done the work. People who have applied their education and learned the skills needed to succeed as a salesman or investor or trader or developer or businessman can supply more relevant and important information than what you would pay for in a university course. Those who don’t know this are charged more.
Most university courses cost significantly more than $20 per week. A postsecondary education costs upwards of $1000 each year, and unless the material you’re studying is directly related to your career goals, most of it is a waste of time. You won’t remember it because it doesn’t have any real value to you. Even if you pay twice as much as you would for a tertiary education, you’ll be getting a deal if you’re studying tactics and techniques you can put to use right away.