What's the point of universities?

What's the point of universities?
Originally uploaded by timmenzies.

I was walking around University of Washington wondering why societies support universities. And not just support them, but so many of them, down through the centuries.

Then I came across this statue of giant pencil. Its author has long gone but had clearly written with great fury, breaking the pencil as they drove home their last point.

And that's the point of universities. The author might be gone but, if they work hard enough, their point might last longer than next weekend.

Sure, it ain't easy and most of what we say will fade away. But, sometimes, out of the tedium of the everyday, we can create ideas that speak to those who follow.