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Education.
Education is defined as the act or process of acquiring knowledge.
I'm Gary Slapper. I'm Professor of Law
and Director at the Centre for Law at the Open University.
Education comes from the Latin verb 'educare',
meaning to lead out or lead forth.
It carries the idea of leading out someone from darkness into light
or from ignorance into knowledge.
It's one of the most important things that human beings do collectively.
Like eating and drinking,
education ideally is something enjoyed throughout life.
Not something which is abruptly stopped
when a person reaches the age of 16 or 21.
And the reason it's a good idea systematically to nourish
and exercise your mind throughout life
is that unless you do so your mind is in danger of stagnating.
Some parts of education are concerned with training people directly
for particular jobs and that's essential and it's desirable.
But education should also involve pure mind-enriching subjects
like history, literature and Latin.
Education - the lifelong glory of systematically enhancing your mind
as a good in itself and a good for all.