What is the meaning of life? Philosophy has struggled with this question for millennia without providing many practical insights. A broad, sweeping answer can be given using the systems approach if the proper questions are posed. For instance, what sort of process is it, and what is the end result? At least for humans, life is an extremely complex indeterministic system. Thus, the fundamental questions are not epistemological, but pragmatic. For instance, how is the individual’s life developing? More importantly, how should this life be directed?

The latter question is sufficiently protracted to demand deliberate long-term strategic planning. Yet, it seems that emotional factors may strongly influence the decisions made as much as careful analysis; perhaps there is a biological basis predisposing an individual through emotional dispositions. It is likely then that the decision process itself has a strong biological basis which is not constant among individuals. A comprehensive analysis of the evidence regarding this proposition requires a major intellectual endeavor well beyond the scope of this essay. However, a proper analysis of the decision making process fundamentally requires consideration of the entire psychological-cognitive framework which the individual employs in making complex choices.

Whatever the individual’s ultimate objectives, these must be aimed for via the selection and attainment of specific intermediate goals. Without doubt, at this level at least the special cognitive skills of the individual determine the sophistication with which such goals are created and implemented. Since formal education fosters the development of these skills, educational decisions might represent a second order method of the decision making process. The characteristic way in which an individual pursues an education may be an informative proxy for how complex decisions in any highly indeterministic situation are made. By its very scope and nature, the problem at hand is most appropriately addressed by the aesthetic method. In employing this approach, I will conduct an analysis of my own educational decisions considering the impact where emotional and possibly innate drives exerted upon the process.

Any complex, indeterministic system may be readily analyzed by the systems methodology, considering its function, structure, operation, operator, and genesis. The educational process itself and the process by which an individual selects an education will be considered in terms of these aspects.

Function The explicit objective of an education is to provide new skills and knowledge. Formal higher education may provide training either for a particular career path or provide more broadly applicable skills. In either case, education develops the potential to act in an increased capacity. Thus, a priori, education is pursued by the student for its contribution to the realization of strategic goals, whatever these may be. Ultimately, these goals may be understood as of a strictly personal nature, so the function of education may be to facilitate attainment of very different goals across individuals.

Structure The structure of the formal education process can be evaluated in terms of the material and positional parameters describing the existing educational system and the specific student. The relevant material parameters describe the structure of the university system and consist of available courses, seminars, and degree programs Positional parameters characterizing higher education include the comparability of degrees from competing institutions and the substitutability of opportunities available through contact with unique faculty. For the student, the principle material resources under consideration are the opportunity costs related to studying rather than engaging in some other activity, such as forgone income or reduced leisure time. The position of the student may be described in terms of educational attainment and additional factors such as age and ability.

Operation The operation of getting a formal education involves the selection of a school (and possibly competition for a space therein), of a discipline of study, of specific courses, and so on — all directed toward facilitating the intended learning process. How the conduct of this process brings to fruition the strategic goals of the individual depends at this point on what the goals are. For instance, if the goal is possibly the innate desire to contribute new knowledge, then the pursuit of original research directly satisfies the goal.

Operator The operator is the particular individual, with whatever natural and learned desires (goals) he has, as well as the various cognitive abilities with which he may realize them. Personal goals may be classified into a few types. The objective may be intrinsically personal, such as a desire to create something new or to satisfy curiosity. The objective may sometimes be social. Examples would include goals of an ambitious or altruistic nature. Lastly, the objective of the individual may be only to satisfy optimally simple biological needs or desires. Perhaps significant ability inherently motivates a desire to utilize that ability. The exceptionally creative person may need engage in creative activity, for instance.

Genesis The present form of the educational system itself may be understood in terms of its historical evolution. For instance, the academic calendar is derived from the nineteen century necessity of employing youth in the summer harvest. More broadly, the growing inadequacy of the traditional educational life-cycle of an initial period of formal education followed by an uninterrupted adult working career reflects the increasing pace of advances in knowledge and technology and resulting economic change.

The individual’s particular background may help clarify to what extent the value accorded a particular level of education is learned. These may be social or personal influences Some families, for example, place a higher value on education. Also, early positive experiences in school may account for a certain redisposition toward particular selections from among relatively indistinguishable choices.

I learned to value education highly before I could make my own decisions. Neither of my parents received any formal higher education. In spite of an otherwise modest childhood, my education was completely within private schools. The public schools where I grew up were of notably inferior quality, and I believe that my parents were determined that I should make it to college and receive the education which they did not. The possibility of obtaining this goal seemed less likely if they were to rely on the public school system. The absolute cost to my parents may have been small compared to what I have spent subsequently on my education, but for my parents it represented a considerable sacrifice. During my childhood, I acted first out of obedience, then later duty, and eventually respectful appreciation for my parents’ choice. Subjectively, the influence of this earlier experience seem to have little importantance.

The decision of where to matriculate to high school was strongly influenced by social considerations. The two best private schools in the area were options. I wanted the coeducational school, but the all-male school was fundamentally superior in terms of academics and prestige. Though it is possible that this decision was ultimately mine, the pressure imposed by my parents was considerable. My teachers concurred with my parents, so begrudgingly acquiesced. Here adolescent motivations were ultimately deemed to be of secondary importance. The positional value of this choice was greater than I realized.

The environment in high school was quite dissatisfying though, so I frequently rode the bus past the school, downtown to the main library (among other places). The social opportunities were certainly better and the curriculum more flexible. The price for these extra benefits was ultimately an increased dissatisfaction with the overall experience. Having endured the predictable level of bureaucratic harassment which incurred, I loathed applying to college. So I did not.

Having completed the statutory minimum education, any subsequent decisions were entirely based on my own goals, and it was an emotional response that provided intense desire to progress.. About halfway through the summer following graduation, I realized the error of my decision. Weeks of idleness provided time for contemplation of the future as well as a comparison of my position relative to my peers’, resulting in a frenetic panic over a possibly irreversible mistake. To some extend my fears were aggravated by the admonishments I received related to the conventional wisdom that college must immediately follow high school.

I learned the great positional value of human resources from this experience when I was accepted to more than one top university in spite of applying well past all deadlines. Fortunately, such a prestigious high school as mine had a well connected and very wise placement advisor upon whom I did call in the middle of the summer. Using her Rolodex of deans and admissions directors, I aggressively pursued a college education. This counselor’s help was invaluable. The exercises involved in dealing with these people were an important stimulus in altering my evaluation of relationships as a parameter of primary importance in most situations.

Consequently, in college, my view of the educational experience gained sophistication. I no longer considered my education to be only a book learning process. I decided to attend Columbia University, which matched my interest in chemistry. Being in New York City, Columbia also promised excitement. Looking back, going to Columbia seemed to be an appropriate choice, primarily because I had so much fun. I learned to truly appreciate the value of friendship.

I used a combinational approach to selecting what discipline to study. However, poor health necessitated a medical leave of absence before I had decided. I had intended to resume my studies as soon as possible. I was being pressured to declare a major when I left. With little time to contemplate what I was doing, I grew less certain. I surrendered a position for material gain by lengthening the disruption of my studies when I took a job (initially as an intern) utilizing my chemistry background, even as I grew bored with the field. That my choice of training would not endure may have been foreshadowed by a persistent doubt that ultimately I would not work in the field.

My decision making style shifted as my intermediate objectives became less defined. I decided that my education to date was preparing me for an undesirable career, so I would not continue in that direction. Taking a job I suspected I would not like was inappropriate, and I was intensely dissatisfied with it. To explore other options, I changed positions, which was fortuitously easy within the particular company. Not immediately finding a promising career path, I continued experimenting until I could advance no further without a degree. As much as anything, I savored the challenge of constantly trying to accomplish something new. When I realized that a professional business education could give me the opportunity to work in this way, I moved to return to school quickly.

The goal of resuming my education suggests a combinational maneuver, but another positional sacrifice was initiated in the implementation. Rather than wait almost another year until the fall term, I quit work and returned to school in January. I relocated to Philadelphia to enroll at Wharton before I even knew if I would be accepted. In so doing, I abandoned the opportunity to attend a respectable, local business school (at my employer’s expense) for the chance study at a top business school. Obviously, such a strategy involved considerable risk. I enrolled in classes at Wharton and excelled. When I learned that I had been accepted for matriculation, I was obviously pleased. More importantly, I gained greater confidence in my abilities.

I have taken the risks to get the quality education I desire because I expect to benefit highly from contact with the most capable teachers as well as exceptional students. Personally, I relish the excitement of intellectual challenges, and I thrive on experiencing new ideas and situations. This desire for more demanding challenges for their own sake is possibly a biological need higher level of stimulation.

My own motivation for seeking such challenges academically seems to be derived from an assortment of expectations. First, I want to completely eliminate the prospect of economic insecurity of the sort my parents faced, so I will study finance. This is strictly an environmental influence. Second, I have confidence in my ability to make appropriate economic decisions. For this reason, combined with a desire to help repay society for all that is being invested in my education, I want to study economic policy. Such a goal cannot be expected from my background alone, suggesting that there is a biological disposition in individuals to make such choices according to other factors other than ability.

How a given individual makes choices regarding education may indicate what sort of parameters are being evaluated by that individual in order to achieve broader personal goals. Education has only indeterministic links to such goals through career objectives. These career goals are likely at least as much emotionally and intuitively as they are consciously and rationally formed. An examination of the underlying motivation behind such goals suggests an uncertain degree of predisposition determined by biological and psychological factors. Because of the these various influences on decision making, the aesthetic approach seems naturally to characterize the process actually used, enabling it to provide valuable insight into complex human behavior.

Notes:

• In contrast to the paradigm of the professional education, which provides training for a specific career, the liberal education is summarized by an idealistic notion of "learning for the sake of learning." The goals of professional and that of the liberal arts education are popularly considered to be in opposition. Seen through the lens of the analytical approach to be presented here, the two sorts of education may be viewed as merely broadly different styles of approach toward the development and attainment of ultimate goals.
• A professional education may be thus viewed as a strictly combinational strategy, whereas a liberal arts education is a positional one. Of course, much of formal education is of an intermediate nature, not completely specialized, but nevertheless directed enough to create predispositions toward certain career paths.
• Their strategy may be understood as a combinational sacrifice, for the goal was explicitly clear, that I should get into an excellent private high school, where the gap in educational quality with the public system was substantially wider.
• Perhaps, approaching the problem from a unique position provided a certain advantage, but not without entailing special effort. My position was unique and risky, and success was required uncommon credentials and connections. This situation may be interpreted as an interesting personal positional sacrifice.

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