Education in Modern Times: Is It Even Required?
What It Means to Be Educated in 2025
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Are you truly educated if you haven't unlearned anything lately?
That question should make you uncomfortable.
Because if you're like most working professionals, your formal education ended years ago—yet the world around you transforms daily.
The Old Rules Don’t Apply
Benjamin Franklin never earned a college degree.
Neither did Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, or countless others who shaped our world.
They understood something we’ve forgotten:
Education was never about accumulation—it was about adaptation.
In medieval times, apprentices learned by doing, failing, and iterating.
Renaissance thinkers crossed disciplines with ease.
They stayed curious—not certified.
And the pace of change today makes their adaptability look slow.
Degrees Aren’t Destiny
Yes, your diploma opened doors.
But clinging to what you learned in school?
That mindset is now a liability.
Ask any journalist reporting on AI.
Ask any retailer facing off against DTC startups.
The battlefield has shifted—and so must we.
A Quiet Reinvention
Take Sophia.
She was a senior corporate accountant at a global firm—comfortable role, respected team lead, good money.
But over time, she noticed something: the finance world was evolving fast.
AI tools were automating tasks she once mastered.
Clients wanted real-time insights, not just end-of-quarter reports.
So instead of resisting, she leaned in.
She took a course in data visualization.
Got curious about dashboards, interfaces, and user journeys.
Before long, she was collaborating closely with the product team—bringing her accounting expertise to the table to shape smarter financial tools and real-time insights.
She didn’t leave finance.
She made herself indispensable at the intersection of finance and product.
Because in a world that keeps shifting, the best professionals don’t just update their skills.
They reshape how they think.
Certainty Is a Liability
The professionals thriving today aren’t the most credentialed.
They’re the most curious.
They question their assumptions—not yearly, but weekly.
They’re comfortable in discomfort.
Curiosity Is the New Credential
Coding bootcamp grads outperform CS majors at startups.
YouTube creators build media empires without journalism degrees.
What do they share?
A relentless learning drive.
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write,
but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” — Alvin Toffler
The Uncomfortable Truth
Traditional education taught us to seek final answers.
But true intelligence today starts with better questions.
It’s not about what you’ve completed—
It’s about what you're willing to abandon when the ground shifts.
Because education isn’t a finish line.
It’s a daily practice of staying intellectually honest in a world that rewards the adaptable—not the certain.
This post is part of the Remote Jobs and You newsletter on Substack. Each edition brings you the latest remote job opportunities and an insightful read tailored for modern professionals.