Learned
I admit I've gotten a bit behind in the 23 Things. Technically I was supposed to blog about this last week, but I figure since the things for this week are to create and register my blog (which I've already done) that I can avoid any penalties.
Our task for last week was to view a tutorial on lifelong learning. I'll be honest, I hate the term "Lifelong Learning." It's another one of those catchphrases that gets overused to the point where a lot of people start tuning out.
That certainly doesn't mean I don't think it's important. I've always tried to live by a statement Socrates made in his last defense before the Athenians:
This is usually translated as "the unexamined life is not worth living." But the Greek is actually much more interesting. The direct translation is more "the unexamined life is no life for a human." In other words, what it is to be human is to constantly explore and examine everything about the world and about your life in it! Doesn't that resonate more than just calling it "lifelong learning"? (Okay, I know, I'm a nerd.)
Having watched the tutorial, I'd say that my biggest problem is that I don't really do any of this consciously. I'm much more of an intellectual hobo: as I wander along I'll stumble across things that interest me and stick them in my satchel. Putting a formal method around learning kinda turns me off it. So forget about beginning with the end in mind: for me there is no end! But the plus side is that I've accumulated one heck of a learning toolbox along the way, and I definitely know how to play!
So a moral to this post? Don't forget to keep asking questions. It's what makes us who we are.
Our task for last week was to view a tutorial on lifelong learning. I'll be honest, I hate the term "Lifelong Learning." It's another one of those catchphrases that gets overused to the point where a lot of people start tuning out.
That certainly doesn't mean I don't think it's important. I've always tried to live by a statement Socrates made in his last defense before the Athenians:
This is usually translated as "the unexamined life is not worth living." But the Greek is actually much more interesting. The direct translation is more "the unexamined life is no life for a human." In other words, what it is to be human is to constantly explore and examine everything about the world and about your life in it! Doesn't that resonate more than just calling it "lifelong learning"? (Okay, I know, I'm a nerd.)
Having watched the tutorial, I'd say that my biggest problem is that I don't really do any of this consciously. I'm much more of an intellectual hobo: as I wander along I'll stumble across things that interest me and stick them in my satchel. Putting a formal method around learning kinda turns me off it. So forget about beginning with the end in mind: for me there is no end! But the plus side is that I've accumulated one heck of a learning toolbox along the way, and I definitely know how to play!
So a moral to this post? Don't forget to keep asking questions. It's what makes us who we are.
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