Wednesday, March 30, 2011

twenty three.




In today's society, information is available to us at every turn, whether it's by using our smart phones or simply typing our questions into the numerous search engines that are available. While these amazing resources that have been afforded us are extremely useful, they oftentimes limit our actual educational stimulation. With the convenience of having an answer to nearly any question with a simple few swipes of your finger or clicks of a mouse, we have become so reliant upon these external sources that we aren't truly learning the information for ourselves. As novelist Anatole France so beautifully wrote: “An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't.” 

There is no doubt that these resources are incredibly useful. For the true knowledge seeker, a few hours spent typing in question after question on any internet search engine can provide to be quite worthwhile. However, how many of us use these devices simply as methods of convenience, rather than actual mental stimulation? In order to occupy our full mental capacity and truly learn more than just the cursory glance that will be forgotten on a whim, we must be fully invested in the pursuit of knowledge.

In order to fully grasp the concept of searching out intelligence, we must first admit that we don't know nearly as much as we think we do. We must stop relying upon our dear friend Google to answer our questions for us, and accept that a simple “I don't know” will usually suffice. It is within the human nature to have faults, and if we can respect the fact that we are not omniscient creatures, we can then become the scholars we hope to become. By first recognizing the difference between what we know and what we hope to know, we then become more susceptible to what we are able to learn.

It is in the practice of gaining knowledge that we become better suited to be more effective inhabitants of this earth. It is the true addition of intelligence that gives us the power to further understand not only ourselves, but the world around us. When we more fully appreciate the opportunities that have been provided to us, we have taken the first step toward true learning. As Russian playwright Anton Chekhov said, “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” May we all take those words to heart and put into practice the things we know, and who knows – perhaps we will find that we actually do know more than we let ourselves believe.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

twenty two.


For 'tis not enough to have good faculties, but the principal is, to apply them well. The greatest Souls are as capable of the greatest Vices, as of the most eminent Vertues: And those who move but very slowly, may advance much farther, if they always follow the right way; then those who run and straggle from it.

From as early as Aesop's Fables, we've heard the story of the tortoise and the hare. The idea of "slow and steady wins the race." We live in a fast paced world. A world so fast that customers have been driven to an almost maniacal rage if their ever-so-precious iced venti dirty chai latte isn't in their hands within five minutes. A world where catching a red light is almost surely a sign of the Apocalypse.

It is this world that we must conquer. Go to bed half an hour earlier than normal. Wake up even earlier. Make breakfast. Leave for work an extra ten minutes early. Allow the person that's inevitably late for work to merge in front of you. Do things the right way, instead of simply settling for the easier, rushed alternative.

It's amazing how much happier we can become if we would simply break from our scrambled schedules every once in a while. Find time to read that book you've been delaying. Pick up that guitar you got for your 16th birthday and learn how to play. Give your dog a break from the "wake, feed, sleep, feed, sleep, repeat" daily pattern by taking it to the dog park. Just...do. Don't think. Don't rush. Just do.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.