“Oh, that’s not relevant for today”
“I don’t need to know that.”
“You’re overloading your brain with useless information.”
“What good are algebra and chemistry and history going to do me when I am working in sales?”
I have heard all the arguments against learning, and most of them reduce to;
1) Too much learning overtaxes the brain.
2) Certain kind of knowledge are irrelevant.
The first argument is untrue. The second argument mistakenly implies that we need to learn only the materials that we will actually use in our jobs.
Neither argument is valid.
First, we cannot overload the human brain. This divinely created brain has fourteen billion cells. If used in the maximum, this human computer inside our head can contain all the knowledge of humanity from the beginning of the world to the present and still have room left over.
Second, not only can we not overload our brains- we also know that our brain retain everything. I often use to say that “The brain acquires everything that we encounter.” the difficulty does not come with impute of information, but in getting it out. Sometime we ‘file” information randomly, or tie significant bits of information to information of little importance, and it confuses us.
All knowledge is important- a fact that some people do not want to hear. One wonderful thing about learning is that knowledge does not only translate from one area to another but also an avenue that leads understanding and insight.
For example, students often complain about the social studies course as irrelevant, particular, history and geography. What they often do not grasp is that these subjects broaden their mental horizons. History helps us to understand the past- how we got the way we are. Geography explains many customs and events based on the land.
The Persian Gulf War, which for several months was the center of world attention, is now history. Why are the countries of Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabian, important? I find it very interesting that many young people do not understand that those countries have only one natural resource upon which their entire economy has been built; vast reservoirs of fuel oil that the rest of the world covets.
I am convinced that knowledge is power.
- To overcome the past
- To change our own situation
- To fight new obstacles
- To make better decisions
What you need to know is determined by what group you intend to influence.
- If your intention is only to influence those who live in your house, then you only need to know about those things that are important to the people with whom you live.
- if you intend to influence those in your neighborhood, you have to broaden your knowledge ongoing.
- If you intend for your life to make a difference in your city, how can you do so if you don’t know what’s going on?
- If you want to help shape the nation or the world, you will need still more knowledge and learning about what is significant in national and international scope.
A basic element of my philosophy of life is that no knowledge is wasted.
Knowledge enriches life itself. Knowledge makes us better people, Knowledge broadens our grasp of the world around us.
From The Book: THINK BIG By Ben Carson. (page 200,201,202 and 204)
Happy World Book And Copyright day.
Leave a comment