The Joy of Learning

What makes learning so pleasurable?

Sometimes I get a jolt of self-recognition when someone pokes fun at the number of degrees I’m pursuing or, more politely, characterizes me as a “lifelong learner” that I realize I might be hooked onto something—learning.

But what is it, exactly, and why does it make us feel so good?

Learning can be defined in many ways, but I would like to venture the denotation “expansion of the soul.” Perhaps a tad Platonist, but so be it. And not all things learned are “positive” experiences—we have all heard about “learning from our mistakes.” But whether it be a happy or miserable matter, I seem to get a thrill out of it. 

In fact, it may not be too far-fetched to engage in certain actions or behaviors just to learn from it. I have made many mistakes in my life, because—for better or worse—I have felt the need to learn a lot of things firsthand.

In school, many students are given the impression that “learning” consists of memorizing a set of facts previously delineated by people deemed smarter than they are. And hence, you could imagine that a lot of teenagers might not be too “down” with that view of events. I might consider myself a member of the rank and file. To be able to fully accept a teaching as fact or truth, one must connect with it on a deep, experiential level. 

It is one thing to understand that there are certain moral rules one must follow in order to be accepted into polite society, and a whole other thing to profoundly understand the reason why they are there. In my view, one cannot truly appreciate the logic or virtue of a law without some kind of personal experience—a “mistake” or “tragedy,” if you will.

Stories teach, or try to warn us, of certain moral truths in order to keep us safe. Nursery rhymes, fairytales, and Shakespearean tragedies attempt to convince us of the grave dangers of telling lies, cheating, or murdering our political opponents due to o’erleaping ambition. Yet learning is an act of exploration. 

We must not stem the innate curiosity in our students in an attempt to keep them “safe,” but in an ideal world, older generations will be available as a source of information, guidance, and mentorship. There seems to be a grave disconnect in this society with regard to the transmission of wisdom between generations. Is technology to blame?

Thanks to airplanes, modern medicine, and information technology, families are located in disparate parts of world, older relatives are placed in long-term care facilities to preserve life, all the while the youth are left to “fend for themselves” in an era where they are free to create and consume a volume of information among themselves as yet never before seen on this Earth. 

What can we learn from each other? 

There is one requirement to learning: humility. The great Socrates once said, “the only thing I know is that I know nothing.” May we heed that lesson plainly and deeply, so that truth and peace may reign on this planet for now and forever.