Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1921-07-08
Something to
Think 4b0ut
EDUCATION.
By +. II. WALKER

] ~T'HOMAS EDISON, whose ability
l. 10 get space on the first page Of
! he newspapers has Of late been thor
| oughly demonstrated, announces that
the modern college graduate has no
! education at all and that there is no
place in his organization for the ig
| norant.
| The trouble with Mr.. Edison is that
he has confused education and knowl-
edge, They are entirely different
| things.
You can educate q horse or a dog,
but nobody has yet succeeded in CIV
! ing them knowledge.
Mr.. Ford, who is warm friend of
Mr.. Edison, has very little education,
as he proved when questioned under
oath on matters literary and historical,
and yet no one would deny that he
has knowledge.
Mr.. Edison based his judgment of
the college graduate of today on the
answers submitted In response to Il
QUESTIONABLE which he prepared as a
lest for young men seeking employ
! ment with him.
Those same young men, even if they
were only average college men, could
have of-hand prepared q QUESTIONABLE
in answering which Nj. Edison would
Lave made i miserable failure.
It would be no trick at all for any
| Well-inforned man to write ten ques-
tons to which Mr.. Edison could lot
furnish 50 per cent technically cor
| rect answers.
| If you do not believe 1t, or il MI
| Edison does not believe il, Try to write
] down without consultation OF any
! books or seeking information from any
outside source the answers 70 these
Who was Pipay?
What and where is the meduIa oh
l lonsutal
I What point Oh the earth has neither
! latitude nor longttu9e7
| Of what nationality was Columbus
I Which is the oldest Of modern re,
! ligions?
l How many teeth has a dog?
How much does . cubt, foot OF all
! weigh?
Were Is the island Of Ph1lae3
I How many nations has the earthY
I What three noted men were coutena
| poraries Of Folt4ire7
! Of course as I wrote down these Ques
I tons I naturally chose queries to
I which | knew the answers and yet
am not, even as the author of The
| queries, certain as to the accurate on
| swers to two Of them.
I To he able to answer al OF those
ten questions correctly. offhaltd, would
/ Indicate education. but IL WouId prove
| knowledge.
The mind Of the college graduate
l when he leaves his alma mater is il
/ much the same condition as the palat,
I Of man who has tasted in rapid sue
cession several varieties of spices.
He IS unable to make prompt ant
\ accurate use of what he really pos
sesses.
To the spice faster all the spice
temporarily taste alike.
To the graduate his information L
| a ConglOmerate mass out of which he
with great difficulty. picks the fac
l which he requires.
Time win restore the accuracy t
the palate.
Time and application Of the knowl
l edge will enable the college man t
/ arrange his mental storehouse so tina
he knows where things are and hoy
to use them
Mr.. Edison does the college gradu
ates an injustice when he says the
I are uneducaued- They are In mos
cases educated. but they are III
4 trained.
T. Education you can get.i in part froI
! | books Training comes only with e1
perience and practice, irf-applytng ed1
1 cation.
st. Bernard, who wass one Of th
greatest Of ecclesiasdcss writing to
| friend, said: Trust to one who ha
had experience. Stones and trees wi
teach you what you VIII never lear
l from the masters
And Shakespeare, who had perhap
read what St Bernard wrote, pu
these lines in "As You Like It."
And this our life, exempt fro1
public haunt,
| Finds tongues in trees, books in tn
II running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good.in ever!
thing"