"The study of an academic discipline alters the way we perceive the world. After studying the discipline, we see the same world as before, but with di

"The study of an academic discipline alters the way we perceive the world. After studying the discipline, we see the same world as before, but with different eyes."

Education is an important component of a person’s life. In the course of our educational progress, we move from more simplistic forms of education to more complex ones. The study of a specific academic discipline further deepens our comprehension in a specialized field. The study of an academic discipline does not necessarily alter how we perceive the world per se, but it provides a deeper and more mature understanding of the way things work around us.

When we pursue a specific academic discipline, we are provided a specialized education to understand the theories and mechanics of the discipline. A person pursuing medical study learns about the parts of the human body and its corresponding functions, a criminologist are trained to detect patterns that point towards criminal behavior and so on. The specialized education provides a detailed insights and knowledge that an untrained person would not have access to. Therefore, it is not to say that the study of an academic discipline changes the way we see the world. We simply gain an awareness of the details of the discipline in the real world that we would not have seen before otherwise.

As a child in school, we are taught the basic knowledge of language, mathematics and other disciplines. As we move to higher tiers of education, we are gradually eased from rudimentary educational content to progressively complex ones. The knowledge the child gains from the lower tiers of education serves as a foundation for more complex knowledge. The knowledge gained does not drastically change the child’s perception of the world around him or her; the knowledge gained is simply used as stepping stones for subsequent educational training. It is the same for a person trained in an academic discipline. When we are trained in a specific discipline, we gain an understanding of the details that we would not have understood previously. As an example, if we are not well versed in the study of astronomy, we merely perceive stars as twinkling lights in the sky. Our judgment is based on superficial knowledge and observations. A seasoned astronomer however would be able discern the difference between a planet and a star and provide names for the constellation formations and so on.

In sum, the study of an academic discipline does not necessarily alter our perception of the way we perceive the world. It merely provides us an awareness of the applications and patterns of the academic discipline in the real world that we would not have noticed before the formal training.