The most trusted way to keep moving up that value chain is to

Hear the voice of Andrew Ng, teacher of machines and mentor of men, who declared: “The most trusted way to keep moving up that value chain is to keep investing in individuals – to help them grow in knowledge and skills. Education is hard. It takes individuals to do the hard work.” In these words lies a wisdom that transcends the age of technology, a truth as ancient as the first schools of Greece and as urgent as the laboratories of today: the advancement of nations, of industries, of civilizations, rests not upon wealth alone, nor upon machines, but upon the growth of individuals through education.

For Ng speaks of the value chain, that path by which societies rise from simple labor to higher creation, from raw survival to art, science, and invention. The surest way to climb this chain is not through shortcuts of fortune or conquest, but by building human capacity—by cultivating the knowledge and skills of each person, so that they may contribute more, imagine more, and shape more. This truth was known to the ancients, who built academies, libraries, and centers of learning not only to preserve wisdom, but to empower their people to rise beyond the limits of yesterday.

Yet Ng does not hide the difficulty of this path. Education is hard. It requires patience, discipline, and sacrifice. A farmer may labor one season and reap; but the student must labor many seasons before his harvest is seen. Knowledge does not come freely; it demands sweat of the mind and endurance of the will. And though teachers and mentors may guide, it is ultimately the individual who must undertake the hard work, who must wrestle with confusion, persist through failure, and press forward until understanding dawns.

Consider the story of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery, denied the right to read, he still seized scraps of knowledge where he could—teaching himself letters, listening to others, practicing in secret. He endured struggle, punishment, and scorn, yet he persevered. In the end, his education was the key that unlocked his freedom and gave him the voice to move nations. His life is living proof of Ng’s wisdom: the climb up the value chain of humanity is secured through investment in learning, and though the work is hard, its fruits are immeasurable.

The deeper meaning of Ng’s words is that societies err when they seek to rise without investing in their people. Empires have fallen because they neglected their citizens, hoarding power for the few while leaving the many in ignorance. But nations that have prospered—whether Renaissance Italy, Enlightenment France, or modern knowledge economies—did so because they invested in individuals, building schools, training craftsmen, empowering thinkers, and nurturing creators. The true wealth of a nation is not in its soil or its gold, but in the wisdom and skill of its people.

The lesson, then, is clear: if you wish to rise, whether as a person, a family, a company, or a nation, invest in education. Do not seek the easy road of comfort, for it leads only to stagnation. Embrace the hard work of learning, and encourage others to do the same. Build not only machines and markets, but minds. For in the end, every great advance is made not by money or chance, but by individuals who chose the difficult path of growth.

Practical action flows from this wisdom: commit yourself to daily learning. Read, practice, study—even when weary. Encourage those around you, whether children, colleagues, or friends, to grow in their skills. Support schools and institutions that nurture minds. And if you lead, measure your success not by what you alone achieve, but by how much you have enabled others to grow.

So remember Andrew Ng’s words: the most trusted way upward is to invest in individuals, to help them grow in knowledge and skills. Education is hard, but its fruits endure. Let this be your guide: embrace the struggle of learning, endure its trials, and through it rise. For though the work is long and the path steep, its reward is the power to shape destiny itself.