The Learning Diaries
When it comes to learning, I have quite a simple philosophy.
- Life is learning.
2. Learning is my job.
As far as #1 goes, it is hard to escape being in a continuous state of learning. There is always something new to be learned. Once you know that, it takes more effort to tune out new learning, that it does to just…learn.
A necessary precondition to #1, however, is curiosity. Be curious. Stay curious. Curiosity leads to new learning. It is possible, when you are in the middle of the grind of life, mid-career, full stress, making a living, that curiosity may just wither up and die, like leaves on a tree in Autumn.
The good news is information is easier to find than ever before. My 10 year old self is insanely jealous of my 40 year old self. My supply of information, my access to the world’s knowledge, is no longer choked off by access points such as teachers and libraries. What I need to find, is here to find, whether it’s how to cook a new dish, play a new chord, find a new book about a new topic, or to take an online course about something such as computer program.
#2 is simply an approach to life. Regardless of your job, make learning a part of that job. Some jobs don’t lend themselves too much to curiosity, and some jobs don’t necessarily have new learning to be done in them.
Here are a list of jobs I have had that have been soul-crushing, for lack of a better word:
- working overnights in a cardboard factory. Cardboard boxes have to come from somewhere!
- standing in a 1 degree room, beside a conveyor belt, placing a Lifesavers packet in a lunchables tray.
- working on an assembly line, punching holes in the side of freezer cabinets.
These three all have one thing in common:
they are better work for robots, than for humans. Robots don’t get bored doing this kind of work.
It is very likely, 20 years later, that all of these jobs are done by robots. Robots are not curious, yet. Robots can learn, but they are not curious.
I forget who said it, but as humans, learning is, or should be, the work itself.
A “learning is the work” mentality can help all of us in our lives and careers.
Many of us reach adulthood, not having thought about just what it means, exactly, to learn.
There are various definitions out there. The best way to learn about learning, is probably to learn something.
We can then answer this question:
How did you learn?
Knowing how you learn can hopefully shed some light on how others learn. What happened as you learned a new skill or acquired some new knowledge? How did you do it? How long did it take?
How do you experience learning as a novice?
What happened along the way?
I am seeking responses to this post, either in the comments, or via blogging, whether on Medium, Wordpress, or elsewhere.
A post could take the basic structure of a description of how you remember learning something brand new.
Here is one example: things I remember about learning to cook.
A supplementary piece about cooking, by Chris J Cluff and myself:
Another piece about learning how to play guitar with no instruction:
This is the Learning Diaries. Would you add an entry?
-stay curious, always-
@MatthewOldridge is always learning…something.
