As we get older and our deathbeds start to get closer, and a whole lot more comfortable looking, the evolutionary need to pass on our skills and knowledge kicks in. We’re going to be gone, and soon it will be up to future generations not to undo all of the hard work we put into building a functioning society. It becomes essential that they are educated so they can fend for themselves when we aren’t there to protect them, and so they can continue to advance society and impart their wisdom on generations to come. I assume this was the thinking of our preliterate ancestors when they decided to teach their kids how to hunt, gather, and build fires, and it’s definitely my father’s thinking every spring when he tries to teach me how taxes work (we’ll get it one day, probably). Education, from formal schooling to lessons a parent imparts on her child, is essential to the advancement of society. Who knows–without it, we could revert back to cave drawings in no time.