You're Not Just a Consumer of Knowledge（教育是重塑世界的利器）
来源: https://www.theguardian.com
The buzzword "self-optimisation", along with modern mantras such as "always be learning" and "be the best version of yourself", have become incredibly popular in recent years. One reason these phrases resonate is because self-improvement can be a crucial step towards improving the world.
近年来，"自我提升"这个流行语，以及 "永远学习 "和 "做最好的自己 "等现代口头禅变得非常流行。这些短语引起共鸣的原因之一是，自我提升可以成为改善世界的关键一步。
From the climate crisis to social inequality and global health emergencies, the problems facing humanity are so big and interconnected that each individual person is both affected by them and also able to have an impact on them. Likewise, the sheer scale of the challenges faced by humanity call for big ambition –and big aptitude.
从气候危机到社会不平等，再到全球卫生紧急状况，人类面临的问题很严重且相互关联，以至于每个人既受其影响，又能对其产生影响。同样，人类面临的挑战规模之大，要求我们有远大的抱负和能力。
One upshot of this is a renewed regard for expertise. These analytical and critical thinking skills have become particularly crucial in a world rife with division, fake news and disinformation, in which people increasingly struggle to agree on basic facts. It's not sufficient to dismiss something as a lie or not real without being able to back that up with evidence and analysis. That's what higher education is about. Every degree programme is about positing a hypothesis: you present evidence, analyse it and arrive at an outcome.
由此产生的一个结果就是对专业知识的重新重视。在这个充斥着分裂、假新闻和虚假信息的世界里，人们越来越难以就基本事实达成一致，在这种情况下，这些分析和批判性思维能力变得尤为重要。 如果不能用证据和分析来支持自己的观点，仅仅把某件事说成是谎言或不真实是不够的。 这正是高等教育的意义所在。每一个学位课程都是关于提出假设：提出证据，分析证据，得出结论。
Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world. And in today's era of social flux, war, conflict, and chaos, more than ever, we must learn from the lessons of the past. Now is the time that we must use education to solve global social problems and avoid conflict.
教育是改变世界最有力的武器。在当今这个充满社会动荡、战争、冲突和混乱的时代，我们比以往任何时候都更需要吸取过去的教训。现在，我们必须利用教育来解决全球社会问题，避免冲突。
2023年9月9日于昆磨高速普洱香河服务区
