These days I am reading a book called Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. The book starts when something blows up the moon in seven pieces. Soon, people realize that the earth has only about two years left until a meteorite rain that will last for some thousand years will destroy everything on the face of it.
In one small paragraph, the author touches on the point of education. He says that it was so hard to convince children to learn something when they could not see how it will be useful to them in the short future ahead. There was no tangible value to be gained. So, education took a turn towards learning purely for the pleasure of learning.
I thought about my own learning experiences. Almost everything I learned in schools, universities, etc. came with a target… a goal… some kind of exams… some kind of level to be reached, etc. I think Tango is the only thing I started and continue learning just for the pure pleasure of learning and discovering. Maybe German too… but there is kind of a goal and a point behind it although it’s not connected with an exam or some kind of proof.
There is something refreshing in this learning process… something rejuvenating that makes you feel like a small child in school. Plus… it’s always so fulfilling when you realize you can still learn new things.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… yes… because a dog that constantly learns… never gets old!
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