I think education is both using and improving knowledge and that changes the whole picture.
We don't focus as much in schools on educational knowledge which requires thinking and application, as we do on acquiring facts.
I think it is totally wrong and terribly harmful if education is defined as acquiring knowledge.
Today much of what we call education is merely knowledge gathering and remembering. Problem solving and thinking, never strong parts of our educational system, have been downgraded in all but a few scientific subjects.
They have this big book called the 'DSM-IV,' you know, that is supposedly written about crazy people, but I think it is a book that is written by crazy people!
This is at the heart of all good education, where the teacher asks students to think and engages them in encouraging dialogues, constantly checking for understanding and growth.