Why is “reading useless”?

The ancients said: "Everything is inferior, only reading is superior." This has been an unbreakable truth for thousands of years. When the college entrance examination was just resumed, college students were in hot demand, and finding a job was like catching a chicken in a cage—picking the pieces with each hand. In 1981, I was assigned a job directly after graduation.

However, after the expansion of university enrollment, many college students cannot find jobs at all. Even graduate students, master's students, and doctoral students find it "difficult to find a job", and even "turtles" have become "turtles". Kelp (to be)”. The reason is that there is a serious surplus of college students.

Even now, in some backward areas in rural areas, you can see slogans like this: "No matter how poor you are, you can't afford education, and no matter how hard it is, you can't make your children suffer." It can be said that such slogans have truly penetrated into the hearts of the peasant masses. Based on their past experiences, they have come to a simple truth that reading can truly change their destiny. Isn't it? Through reading, Shanli children have entered big cities. Through reading, many families have escaped poverty. Therefore, they also sincerely respected teachers and education, and reading and education were their hope for the future!

However, today, the cruel reality has shattered their past experience and subverted the simple truth. Many poor families spend money to send their children to school and even graduate from college. What do they get in return? Apart from a diploma, I can't even find a job to make a living! In their view, studying has indeed changed their destiny, but not for the better, but for the worse! You sow dragon seeds, you reap fleas!

As the saying goes: "Things that are rare are valuable." If gold became as plentiful as brass, would its price still be as expensive as it is now? If today's college students all get a job directly after graduation, will there still be so many "three quits" in our college entrance examination enrollment? Let me ask, if this is not "study is useless", what is it? The phenomenon of "theory that reading is useless" cannot simply and crudely be attributed to the ignorance and backward thinking of the people. In fact, ordinary people also know that "knowledge changes destiny." However, for poor people, the cost and risk of investing in education are very high. Many families are in debt as their children go to college, and the media has repeatedly reported on the phenomenon of “tuition killings.” A family scrimps on food and clothing, works hard to provide for a college student, but in the end cannot find a job. How can the majority of parents accept this huge contrast?

"Theory that reading is useless" is a very familiar term. During the period from the 1980s to the early 1990s, "theory that reading is useless" was a hot public topic. At that time, the income of intellectuals engaged in intellectual work was much lower than that of corporate workers. There was a jingle that reflected the social status quo to a certain extent: "Those who make atomic bombs are not as good as those who sell tea eggs, and those who use scalpels are not as good as those who use razors." of". In this context, the theory that "study is useless" once prevailed. Some top students with good family conditions applied for technical technical schools where they could work and make money early after graduating from junior high school, and withdrew from the college entrance examination competition early. The "uselessness of reading" theory has harmed many people. When the distribution system becomes increasingly reasonable, they have to spend more time and energy reading books that they put down early.

It is conceivable that today's "theory that reading is useless" will also have negative consequences. Ordinary people have their own reasons and even difficulties in calculating economic accounts. But investment in education is a lifelong investment, so don’t be blinded by the immediate pros or cons.

Obviously, the saying "knowledge changes destiny" has now become "going to college changes destiny" in the hearts of ordinary people. In the era of the planned economy, going to college meant that a series of problems such as household registration and work would be solved. This is especially important for rural students. University is an elite education. Going to university is equivalent to having a superior status and the glory of returning home in glory. Things are different now. After going to college, I feel like everything is back to where it started. I have to find a job by myself, and my income is not necessarily as much as working part-time. University has become mass education, but ordinary people are not aware that they are still swinging between "changing their destiny" or "not changing their destiny", "going to school" or "not going to school", and calculating the cost-effectiveness.

Is reading really useless? Everyone admits that if a person reads more books and improves his literacy, his ability will make a qualitative leap. People with the same level of intelligence are also "poetry and calligraphers". When two people engage in the same job, they will achieve the same results. Once the job becomes challenging, the person who has studied will stand out. Reading still has the power to change your destiny.

Of course, the revelation of this kind of power requires an opportunity, and some people may not get this opportunity, but not studying means that when the opportunity comes, you will not be able to grasp it.