Snack #31 - Graduation is an emotional scam

I woke up with the thought of how graduation is one of the hardest things in life, masked as a joy and a “finish line”. The lie only lasts a tiny bit and we fall for it multiple times in our lives.

What makes us happy in finishing our learning process? Is it the stopping of learning, the view of opportunities beyond it, or just humans finding an arbitrary reason to celebrate?

Let’s take college. I’ve never been, but I know most people around me have. Or even high school. You leave everything and everything you’ve spent YEARS getting to know and getting used to - in any other case, I would call this “Loss”, but we walk to it willingly. This is a violation of our most basic, primal needs - a steady, safe place to live, and friends.

We have no idea what we are doing next (yes, even if there’s something already planned - what can we actually know?) - in any other case, I would call this “uncertainty”. Uncertainty is the state of mind our brain like the least, the one that brings feelings of terror.

Now, let’s step out of the college analogy, since college is very expensive, and most folks go there to get a money-making job. All those things still apply, but we suffer them in the name of money.

I would say we learn things all the time through those jobs we acquired, our relationships, and more - and we seem to always want to graduate from those as well. Job → New Job, Relationship → Marriage. Have we really finished all the learning that can be done when we want to graduate?

If one loves learning so much and is interested in something, why not continue education and never want to graduate?

Here's me being a shy, total beginner at a party.