Alvin T.

Summary

The article suggests that the widespread access to higher education has led to a workforce that is overqualified for the jobs available, resulting in widespread job dissatisfaction.

Abstract

The piece argues that the historical shift from limited literacy to mass education has paradoxically cursed modern society with widespread job dissatisfaction. Initially, literacy was a rare skill, reserved for scribes in ancient Mesopotamia

Education Is a Curse and the Reason Why We All Hate Our Jobs

A diagnosis.

Mass Education. Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

We are cursed with the gift of literacy in our modern world. We take literacy for granted today. In ancient Mesopotamia, if you were taught to read and write, you became a dubsar — a scribe and a member of the elite. Nearly all scribes were male.

In 1820, about 12 % of the world could read and write. By 2016, 84% of the global population became literate. Basic literacy is a good thing — it improves our life chances.

But our civilization has not stopped at achieving mass primary education. Today, it has universalized higher education.

I think that is why we hate our jobs.

Never, in the history of the world, have we educated so many and promised them the world, only to give them jobs that don’t matter, and crush their souls.