Limitless Learning

His glass is full. Don't take this sentence literally. The metaphorical statement is a comment made on a student who apparently feels that the classes he joins are worthless. Regardless of what the real truth is, I would like to give my take on this attitude towards learning.

Firstly, let's make sure we understand the meaning of the "glassy" expression above. The glass can be thought of as the student's head, brain or mind, while the fullness represents the total amount of knowledge that occupies his cranial space – no room left. But it's not only that. The jam-packed state also implies the unwillingness to learn or acquire something new. It is commendable and even recommended that we carry all the bits of information and understanding that we have when we are engaged in a learning process, for example, in discussions – that's how civilization advances. However, this has to be accompanied with the grand, essential attitude of humility.

Humility underpins the success of education. When one thinks they know literally everything, that's when they impose a limit on themselves. This intellectual deception hinders progress of any kind and is a serious obstacle to our advancement, as an individual and as a society. This easily stems from the fact that no single person would ever possess a full, thorough understanding of the universe. Every person ever born on Earth experiences different things than anyone else (this is beautifully formulated in the first rule in Bill Nye's guide to doing everything all at once: Everyone you'll ever meet knows something you don't.), and this necessitates reliance and dependence on our fellow (wo)men, if we are to thrive in this world. This realization should lead us to being more humble and respectful to others, and thus, naturally, we should always provide room for learning from literally anyone, who together makes up an inexhaustible source of knowledge.

While we're on this topic, I would like to share my reading experience related to this with all of you. As some of you may already know, I'm currently reading a science book by the eminent evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, whose title is probably one of the coolest ever in the history of book publishing: The Magic of Reality (to read my review, click here). In this book, there are at least a couple of instances where Dawkins states that he is not knowledgeable about a particular subject. To me, this is an exemplary act which shows how humility entails an admission of one's limits.

To end this article, I would like to sort of quote from a dinosaur book (I hope this sums up the contents of this article neatly). It goes something like this: Even if you think you know everything, there's always something new to learn.