LEARNING UNDER A BRAIN CLOUD
Monday, September 21, 2020
Life-long learning is a perhaps overused term, but certainly something we all want to say we are doing.
This begs three questions:
- what is life-long-learning?
- how do you do it?, and
- am I learning?
It doesn’t matter whether we are learning advanced rocketry math, how to program an electronic device, or re-reading classic literature we were too busy or oblivious to reading when we were younger – the fundamental element is our appetite.
Do we desire to learn?
Or, do we learn because someone or some set of circumstances requires that we understand?
There is no question that research on medical issues has spiked in recent months – a desire to be better informed and a fear factor too. We might be afraid of being out of touch, fearful of being left behind, or scared of missing out.
I’ve been wondering how we learn, listen, stay current on things – are we better at it when we have fear and risk hanging above like a brain-cloud*, or do we absorb more and absorb it better when we are not stressed, not worried, and not in apparent danger?
It seems, lately, everyone is on edge, and our appetite for information has risen accordingly. Still, we must question whether the information we get is sound or not, fake or not, and the world is suddenly feeling more Orwellian than before.
Does it really matter how or why we learn, or is it essential THAT WE LEARN?
Our big old brains have enormous capacity, like an idle, dusty, somewhat obsolete computer – lots of processing power, lots of hard drive storage, and a keyboard wanting wear.
*a term understood by anyone who watched Joe vs. The Volcano; bonus points if you only watched it once
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