“Without application in the world, the value of knowledge is greatly diminished.” Consider this claim with respect to two areas of knowledge. At issue is whether whether knowledge knowledge has has value or purpose purpose if not directly applied, or whether the value of knowledge rests principally in its practical use as it leads to a definite product. Does unapplied, or impractical knowledge then, have value? Application Application can e e defined defined as the use of knowledge knowledge in pursuit pursuit of an end, end, either either foreseen, or entirely unanticipated. !alue, in this case, is the usefulness of knowing something as it leads to directed, or une"pected eneficial outcomes. At real contention contention is not whether knowledge in the astract is potentially valueless, ut rather the nature of how the value of knowledge is measured at all. #n e"ploration of the topics, # intend to relate a numer of personal anecdotes involving history, language arts and the human sciences as # demonstrate that knowledge and its ac$uisition stand apart from predictive human capacity to measure or value. # suggest we consider that while not all knowledge can have direct application, any knowledge can e useful if it can e directly or indirectly applied, even if the application and outcome lie eyond initial purpose or intent. #t is reasonale to dout the direct applicaility of historical study to life. # spent preschool through grade % in a &rench #' immersion international school at which multi lingual gloal historical studies was the focus of the program. # ecame fully trilingual as # learned aout international and in particular (uropean historical periods. &oreign studies were promoted as essential ways of knowing the world and our place in it as we daily read &rench and )panish newspapers, visited &rench and )panish wesites, and travelled to &rance and )pain. Despite assurances y proponents of international education of the value of international study to our present and future, this specific
knowledge of languages and (uropean studies had little application in my day to day life, and uncertain future value. *his led me to ask the imperative $uestion+ What counts as application of historical knowledge and how would directed application e measured or valued? # $uestioned whether application had to e $uite specific, for e"ample to a particular foreseeale employment opportunity to render value, or whether a more diffuse application with no immediate or anticipated tangile rewards was of worth. When # left for pulic high school, # knew little aout the Civil War or ranches of the nited )tates government, ut # knew intimate details of the &rench political system, the history of its -epulics and philosophical ideas underpinning (uropean nation states. nlike peers from American focussed schools, # was significantly less informed aout pressing academically evaluated American historical topics, religious movements, and human sciences including domestic politics. #n the immediate and critical term, the focus on languages, gloal and (uropean studies placed me at a distinct disadvantage in a high school program directed to America centric issues, a conse$uence of inapplicale knowledge. n the other hand, my language and gloal studies ackground proved distinctly applicale, and immediately though une"pectedly valuale during a sophomore semester aroad in &rance. # lived near )trasourg, a home of the (uropean /arliament, an institution with which # was intimately familiar. # knew the collective imagining and reasoning ehind its formation, its mission, organi0ational structure, memership and operations. # also knew that one could witness important speeches y world leaders and others. n a holiday, # visited the /arliament where # was present for (dward )nowden1s long awaited testimony. 2ad # not studied the history of the
(uropean parliament, or developed a fascination for gloal politics, knowledge without direct application and of $uestionale value to my high school career in /ortland, # would not have followed contemporary events, known of (dward )nowden, or een driven on that day to the hall and unknown and une"pected opportunity. 'efore my e"perience in parliament, # $uestioned the value of seemingly inapplicale historical knowledge, ut as # listened to )nowden with profound understanding, # understood that inapplicaility is relative to circumstance, and that one cannot predict what will e of value to unrevealed opportunity. As a trilingual American living in regon, known as one of the least diverse states in the nited )tates, one seldom hears foreign languages. ther than in some restaurants or areas with greater concentrations of migrants, &rench certainly, and )panish is of little to no practical use. 3et, at my &rench language immersion school, # focussed on &rench and )panish studies. 4y e"perience led me to wonder+ *o what e"tent does language limit our aility to gain and apply knowledge? *he time # invested in foreign language study limited my attention to other disciplines. #n conse$uence, math was not my focus and # feel educational gaps reflected in my modest math )A* scores. *he average scores, a conse$uence of focus on immediately inapplicale knowledge, are a lot on my otherwise superior record, and place college admittance in $uestion. 2ad my education focussed on evidently marketale skills such as math, my educational and career plans would e more certain. #n &rance, however, my facility for languages and application in learning them paid off. f little purpose or value in the ), trilingualism held distinct enefits in the (, particularly in the world of simultaneous translation. n my visit to parliament for
)nowden1s testimony, # noted a $ueue for the ( translator test, the first step to eventual employment. # stood for the e"am, passed the preliminary and was placed in a translation ooth for the second phase of testing, a live simultaneous translation monitored y program administrators. When )nowden appeared y video, # spent thirty minutes simultaneously translating his testimony from (nglish to &rench. 5iven e"cellent performance, # was paid 67 (uros, the first money # ever earned through application of my skills. # was encouraged to pursue a career translating, an option opened due to knowledge that had previously appeared purposeless and that was ac$uired with no concern for direct application. )tudy of the natural sciences may have no purpose, application or value in the real world. When my mother was in college she followed her passion and decided to ma8or in paleontology. 'ecause of her intellectual curiosity in fossil links to the past she ignored limitations in real9world paleontological applications. )he came to reali0ation only as she was aout to present her senior thesis. #n her orals, a memer of the thesis oard asked why “we” study this science. 5iven lack of opportunities to professionally apply the knowledge, eyond satisfying curiosity, neither the professors, nor my mother were ale to answer egging the $uestion+ What is the value of inapplicale knowledge? Due to my mother1s practical need to earn a living after college, she aandoned the field and inapplicale studies to focus on more lucrative sciences. Despite my mother1s decision to focus on a roader range of the natural sciences, she worried that she wasted four years of college. :ater, she understood her early speciali0ation created une"pected opportunity. -ather than pursue a doctorate in the natural or hard sciences as she e"pected, my mother decided on teaching science,
collecting a numer of professional and academic advanced degrees in the process. As a classroom instructor, her road ased e"pertise in a range of sciences, and in particular in the fossil record and evolutionary iology separated her from competition winning her scarce teaching positions. nlike doctoral specialists my mother could teach across the sciences. Although her studies in paleontology originally appeared worthless, they eventually permitted her to estalish a career. *he value of studies cannot e determined from successful direct application at the most speciali0ed levels. #nstead, it is impossile to predict which skills or knowledge will e of value to unanticipated opportunity ased upon unimagined paths. ;nowledge may not have foreseeale direct application, ut all knowledge, and the process of ac$uiring it, is of value. *hough studies in history, language or in speciali0ed areas like paleontology may not have evident application, the knowledge is not rendered worthless. Although growing educational costs increasingly render education a commodity, education without an evident payack cannot e considered wasteful. *hough one can1t predict whether specific knowledge will find application, it is safe to assume that we cannot predict the future. #n other words, despite arguments to the contrary, the value of knowledge lies not only in its purposeful direct application, ut rather in its role to e"pose and open opportunity. Words+ <=%=
