Knowledge, Information, and Education

I've always wondered what is the reason for learning. Obviously it's not in the sense that I'm a delinquent who finds no interest in learning; in fact, it's the exact opposite. I'm more fascinated by the nature of knowledge and of aspiring to capture information. This is a very existentialist approach to a pretty vague and probably dull topic, but please bear with me as I try to articulate what is going on in my head.

When our parents or other role models (and ourselves now) tell us that it's important to be educated, what exactly does that mean? Technically, it means that we need to learn about concepts that are supposedly important in our lives, but shouldn't these concepts be anything and everything? I just don't exactly understand how someone came up with the notion that all high schoolers need to know chemistry and calculus. Who actually decided this system and why is it that knowing these subjects is necessary for being educated? One would think that education would entail being knowledgeable about every nook and cranny about anything, but we actually need to know specifics about biology and physics in order to gain higher degrees. Why those and not, say for instance, geography or the presidents (i.e. the random stuff that I actually know)? The concept of being educated is very abstract and subjective, which is exactly why universities allow you to choose whatever subject you want to pursue further. I guess at some point you need have some foundation for everything in order to know exactly in which subject you want to specialize. It's really mind-boggling to know that, ultimately, anyone with a job or an interest/hobby clearly has a great deal of knowledge in a particular subject, which makes being "educated" an incredibly broad term, one that seems to be more of a societal fabrication than it is a necessary part of leading a good life. While those who have dropped out or decided not to pursue a degree may not be educated in the formal sense, I still feel that they're educated in some subject, however unimportant it may be. After all, what can someone do with that much free time? Learn, I guess.

Apart from the whole concept of pursuing education, I always found it interesting to understand the term 'information.' When you are learning, you are acquiring information through various forms, be it reading, listening, or doing. But what is information? Information is trivia and phenomena that have been passed down over the course of time into our generation, and so we have the opportunity to change it and possibly create more information. Information truly has no bounds; it is unstable, but that's the way it should be. Imagine if there was a finite amount of information that a human was capable of capturing. That would be the most tragic revelation, because in the end, without knowing something, we cannot do it, and if our knowledge is limited, our actions are limited. For instance, without knowing the rules of basketball, I don't know how to play. Knowing the rules of basketball involves reading, watching games, and observing from others. This is the dissemination of information, which I think is also a form of education, even though it may not be the most theoretically challenging or heady. I guess I don't really know where I'm going with this, and after I read this again to see what I wrote, it seems more and more like pointless drivel. I guess it's that I'm fascinated by some concepts (e.g. information and education) and I just wanted to express this fascination. On that note, I will go pursue my quest for knowledge about the process of sleep.