Slightly out of context from the piece as a whole, which is full of caution about grad school, but this is brilliantly written:

Society only exists because brains can learn, but academia is the only part of society that acts like it. Politics, business, and warfare all just play with the toys learning gave them, because arguing, greed, and violence are the childish parts of the species. Learning is how humanity grows up.

via 6 Important Things Nobody Tells You About Grad School | Cracked.com.