Movement restrictions imposed by COVID-19, including being completely homebound, have been a norm for many. Across the globe, people have spent weeks or months virtually locked in their homes.
Those with poor reading habits are more likely to experience negative emotions ranging from boredom to confusion. They struggle against feelings of emptiness and meaninglessness that lurk behind such experiences.
The crisis of the educated
The lifestyle of the educated elite in the days of COVID-19 lockdowns is an interesting topic for discussion. I heard that during COVID-19 lockdowns even people with high educational attainment were completely unprepared for staying at home.
They lapsed into lethargy and passivity that often leads to sadness. Despair has been their worst fear and, in their case, the most probable scenario. Lockdown boredom of the educated indicates their lack of reading habits and shows the failure of the modern education system.
A learned person should find happiness in reading, research and other meaningful mental work. Isn’t it a contradiction in terms for “educated people” to be busier with activities other than reading and writing?
The fact that the so-called educated classes feel useless stuck at home reveals the inadequacy of the education system. It has not produced truly enlightened people who grab every opportunity to study and learn.
Strange that educated people can feel bored, or spend long hours watching television, while there is so much to read and write.
True scholars versus academic careerists
The internal struggle of such educated people becomes more apparent when they are in the academic world.
Being academic but averse to scholarship suggests a deep-seated conflict between their profession and personal inclination. For them, learning is not a continuous process and ends with finding a livelihood.
In the field of knowledge and scholarship, the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the distinctions between two groups of academics. There are those true scholars who have chosen their profession out of interest and conviction.
On the contrary, there are those academic careerists who acquire education as a luxury brand. Accordingly, they use their degrees for career opportunities in academia out of economic or social necessity.
Between these two groups, the true scholars have an edge over the unenlightened mind. They kept away from the worst of anxiety and mode disorders that the COVID-19 epidemic caused. Being true lovers of knowledge, they devoted lockdown times to study, reflection, research and writing.
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