We all evolve from primitive humans into modern-day sophisticated human beings. It is all possible because our ancestors never stop learning. They understand the value of learning and education; in today’s modern world we are still carrying the same legacy as our ancestors and made Education one of the most important parts of our lives. However, the mode of learning and Education has changed over time.
Education vs Indoctrination
The main difference between Education and Indoctrination is that Education is the way of teaching where the mind is free to imagine, to think, to question; whereas, Indoctrination is the way of teaching in which, our minds are forced to believe things or a set of rules without questioning them. Education opens the doors of opportunity, knowledge, and wisdom. On the other hand, Indoctrination put an end to our thought process and stop us from gaining the knowledge or wisdom.
With Education, we can be more innovative and creative as it gives our mind the powerful tool of knowledge, through which we can see the world in our own way. Education guides our path, gives us a chance to explore, to learn, to make mistakes and to rectify it. Education replenishes our minds with new thoughts and ideas, which leads a common man to greatness.
On the other hand Indoctrination is the way of teaching or educating someone in which we are not allowed to think or ask any questions. It is the process that forces us to believe in a certain set of rules or ideology which is baseless or has the least possible meaning. Indoctrination manipulates our mind in such a way that our brain forgets to think, it narrows our thought process and makes us blindly believe what is presented in front of us.
Comparison Table Between Education and Indoctrination
| Parameters | Education | Indoctrination |
| Definition | It’s a process of enlightening, which is achieved by giving or sharing information, instruction | It is the process in which, people are made to believe in certain rules and beliefs without questioning them. |
| Teaching based on | It is mainly based on facts and the rules that imply in real life | It is baseless or has the least possible meaning |
| Practiced in | Education is implemented and practiced in real life like science and technology, or in other fields of expertise to make life our life better. | It is mainly practiced in religious beliefs, politics, and baseless ideology. |
| Development of Thought process | Education enlightened our mind and makes our thought process stronger | Mind is molded in such a way that our thought process lot its way of thinking in the right direction |
| Problem solving | With Education we can have many solution for the same problem, it depends on the situation. | With Indoctrination, there is only one solution for one problem. |
What is Education?
Education gives us the power and understanding to uplift our consciousness and to evolve ourselves into better human beings. It is the only way through which we will have a comprehensive understanding of this world. A great Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory of psychological help where he discusses the different stages in human life According to Maslow, there are six different tiers all of which contains different sets of meaning in our life.
1- Psychological needs ( air, water, food we all need this to stay alive)
2- Safety needs ( house, job, money, property, health)
3-Love And Belonginginess (friends, relationship)
4- Esteem ( Status, respect, importance, recognition, etc)
When all these needs are satisfied, we get to the higher level of life
5-Self Actualization is the stage where people tends to be more creative, to develop a high sense of
morality, to be more spontaneous to solve problems to make discoveries, to accept facts, contribute to the society
6-Self Transcendence: It is related to true spirituality and self-enlightenment; we became more aware to develop unconditional love and a new level of unconsciousness.
Education plays an important role in our life to help us get through these stages so, that we can get to the higher level in the hierarchy. We should not assume that education will stop one day because if we did, we will find ourselves stuck in the lower tier and miss out on so many things in life. Education is a lifelong process; do not limit yourself, we must work to educate and develop ourselves until our last day.
What is Indoctrination?
It’s a way of teaching where what is taught to us is not based on facts, it is a belief that is considered to be true and we have to accept it without any questions. To some people Indoctrination simply means brainwashing or blindly, following someone where our mind is being convinced in such a way that; we start to think that whatever told us is correct. Indoctrination can be good and bad: We will try to understand it with the following examples:
Indoctrination in a positive way: In the Hindu religion there, is a belief that the cow is like a Goddess to them and killing a cow is considered a sin we have no prove or evidence if that’s true, but still the Hindus accept this belief and respect this poor animal, similarly they refrain from eating non-veg; which in turn saves the life of many innocent animals. So it’s gives us a positive impact of indoctrination.
Indoctrination in a negative way: The terrorist attacks caused many people to lose their lives and property, but why do they do this? Why do they not fear death? It is because their brain is molded in such a way that they think if we hurt people, they will become weak and fear us. Their leaders fill their minds with a set of rules that became a part of their life. They are being brainwashed, they don’t care if they have to kill or die killing people. So, we see the negative impact of indoctrination.
Main Differences Between Education and Indoctrination
- Education is the process that opens our minds and gives us the power to think and encourage our imagination, whereas Indoctrination closes the door of our mind and restrain our thought process.
- Education inspires us to think, as compared to Indoctrination it tells us What to think.
- Education helps us achieve the main goals in our lives where as Indoctrination binds us to one thought and we remain stuck for the rest of our lives.
- Education gives us freedom of thought and action but Indoctrination is compelled on us make our minds a slave of other’s thoughts and beliefs.
- Education gives us a chance to make choices whereas in Indoctrination we do not have any choice.
Conclusion
Education is the requirement of life, which empower us, makes us strong, and gives us the strength to face the difficulties in our life. Education is not limited to getting a Degree or getting a good job but, it is more than that. It is a vehicle that helps us reach the different levels in our lives, getting information, knowing things does not make us an educated person rather if we know how to use this information or knowledge in a creative way makes us an Educated Person.
On the other hand, Indoctrination is the method by which things are just dumped on us and expects us to believe these thoughts without any questions. There are some sets of rules in Indoctrination that are good, and there is no harm in following them unless it hampers your thought process.
There are many sets of rule and beliefs, but it depends on you What You Believe In, and if your mind is strong and replenished with education, you can never be a victim of negative Indoctrination. And lastly I’ll like to share a quote by our former President (L) Mr. A.P.J. Kalam, Education is not about learning facts but training mind to think.. So, we should encourage people to Think not WHAT To Think.
References
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0268093042000207601
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0268093042000207601