..a navigational tool for those who're not quite sure in which direction they want to go, and a centralized information repository for those who are.

Aside from some basic skills needed to interact with other humans and the environment, it occurs to me that there are only four (but invaluable) things I gleaned from 16+ years of education that actually enhanced or improved my life. Two were acquired in high school, two in college. In high school I gained a profound appreciation and awe for music - any and all musical vibrations - and I learned how to use a library, which opened up facets of knowledge I wasn't even aware of. In college I learned a marketable skill which aided in the acquisition of creature comforts (an external womb), and I was taught to utilize the powers of reason and logic to scrutinize everything. Comes in real handy when you go mucking around in the world of ideas.

Neil