Profession

I believe that this story, "Profession", is saying that electronics and technology are taking over our society and that the ‘old ways’ of education are becoming less prevalent. Of course this story is an extreme exaggeration and embellishment but it gets a point across. Our society relies so much on technology that often people do not know how to function without it. In the story the profession the ability to read does not come about as a learning process but it is an ability that is infused into people with a machine. The same goes for education. People do not actually learn. They are provided with the knowledge about a given subject and their education is never furthered. In a sense this is true today. People learn differently these days. We are ‘programmed’ to learn through technology. With the world at our fingertips, via the internet, its not as necessary to learn as it use to be. We are able to find whatever it is we need to know in an instant. This is not real knowledge, it is unable to be built upon. For example, my public health class requires that we take exams online. This allows us to look up answers while we are testing. To many college students this means there is no need to learn. You can get the answer through technology. This is like in “Profession”. An individual is infused with a specific type of knowledge but is unable to build upon it. They do not learn in the traditional way. Although I believe that technology is continuing to ‘take over our lives’, it will never be as extreme as in “Profession“. I do not believe that a computer analysis will ever determine our professional careers.


I do not believe that education will ever be so single tracked that other or continued learning will be improbable and looked at as crazy. I feel that learning will always occur through books and remain facilitated by technology. Sometimes technology plays a bigger role in learning than others, but learning will always occur through ‘traditional’, or as called in “Profession” ancient ways. I also do not believe that ones profession will be chosen in such a way. A person is able to direct their mind. If he or she wishes to study and excel in science they can do so but if they wish to study history they can do that as well. The “Profession” points out that ones brain is set at birth. This is not true. The brain is an impressionable thing and can be altered through knowledge and experiences.


Although learning through technology is a great tool it is not sufficient. People may think that it is all you need in order to progress and be successful in life but I disagree. I think it takes real knowledge to become something. Knowledge is necessary to create and be innovative. This is the lesson that George learned at the end of the story. Although having a specialization is desirable in the story, it is the people who receive no profession that are essentially the most valuable.