I remember in school there was always a discrepancy between what we learned academically and supposed “real world” application. When challenged, the teacher would respond with an example portraying how you might use a formula or historical anecdote in the work force. Most of the time, the response was bullshit, and the teacher knew it.
While the argument against academic applicability may be valid, it brings up a bigger, more important question regarding the conception that an ordinary, steady “real world” actually exists. I hear comparisons to “real world” behavior everyday, probably because I work in technology, but I’m certain there is no rational basis for the claim.
Here are three reasons why:
1. Popular culture tells us we’ll meet a companion, get married, have kids and live happily ever after. Then, you read about two separately married college professors discussing stick shifts and leftover chicken over email, proving their adultery to the public’s disgust.
2. Corporate America lectures that we’ll have steady jobs, friendly coworkers and a healthy work environment. Then, you hear about the drugs, alcoholism and general debauchery that takes place the minute a suited worker breaks free from the office only to smile and “act professionally” the next morning in the coffee room.
3. Parents giddily send their adolescent children off to a university after graduating from high school. Then, you learn a large aspect of the college experience is about being cool, impressing peers and generally ignoring your long-term future. That’s why ages 15 – 24 are only 14% of the US population, but account for 29% of the costs of motor vehicle accidents.
I could go on. It only takes a few minutes of browsing the web on any given day to pull more examples.
Sure. What you don’t understand you can make mean anything. But, I don’t think my examples are just specific cases; they are the real world. They aren’t anomalies either. They speak louder for reality than we may think, or, that any of us are brave enough to admit.
What is this so called utopian “real world” referred to so often? What if we all tore off the masks and dropped the acts? Would the world collapse, or has it already?