Why, How, and What we Learn
Why we learn is a tricky question. There are probably many reasons. Just a few that come to mind: interest, requirement, survival, uncontrolled, boredom, quest for enlightenment, to understand, etc. There are a lot of them. But I think it would be interesting to pose a theory that could be related to each one of the reasons given. I was thinking that perhaps the underlying reason for learning was fear. And that does sound very bleak. That was why I didn’t want to use that idea, but now I'm starting to think it might be a very valuable hypothesis worth exploring. If you think about it, fear is an emotion that drives us all in many ways. But there are many levels of fear. You can be afraid of change or you can be afraid for your life. There are very wide spectrums to the word and I think that range could be used to explain the sub-reasons for learning. I think this theory might run into some snags and loop holes. For instance, I was thinking about the opposing argument: but don’t we learn for our own personal interest? I thought about that and how fear could relate. You know, why ARE we interested in things? What sparks are attention? What is it about certain subjects that fascinate us and get us to research on our own? When I look at my own experiences, there are very few times that I have been interested in a subject enough to go to the library and read-up on it. Maybe I’ve looked up reviews on movies… or maybe I’ve researched s topic in order to prove someone wrong. But other than that, I don’t think I’ve ever looked up something PURELY based on interest (at least nothing too prominent; I’m sure I’ve done it in the past, but very briefly). I have asked questions about things and had people tell me what I wanted to know – whether that be school or at home. But I think THAT is how I find more about something. I ask people. I find it very dull looking for things on my own because I find it extremely frustrating when I don’t find what I’m looking for. When I ask a physical person, I get my answer from them. It’s much, much, simpler. And I think simplicity might have a lot to do with how we learn. But back to the “why.” When we learn in order to understand the unknown that can be related to fear. The saying goes that we always fear what we don’t understand. So we MUST learn if we are to rid ourselves of this fear – this fear for the unknown. When you look at the whole institution of school, you see that fear plays a big role. Why do we go to school as little kids? At that point, we’re still being told to do it, so we are afraid to not do it. Why are we afraid? Because our parents will get mad at us; and as a little kid, that’s a big fear. This same sort of idea weaves together our education, although it gets much more intense as schooling progresses. When you’re in elementary school, you are afraid to disappoint teachers and parents. It’s always scary getting yelled at by someone. As we approach middle school, that fear is less prominent, but it’s definitely there. That is why rules get stricter; to keep students afraid of not learning. NOTE: if you look at the kids who AREN’T learning, they are usually not afraid of authority. They don’t care if someone yells at them. They don’t mind punishment. They aren’t afraid, and as we can see, when the fear is purged, so is the necessity to learn. As students get to high school, there is a bigger fear. We fear for our futures. That is why we take things more seriously (and the rules get even stricter). We learn to do well on standardized tests and we learn to get good grades – all so that colleges will look at us favorably. We want a college education and the fear of not having one drives our high school learning. And then when we get into college, there is even a bigger fear. We become afraid to fail because then our resumes won’t look sharp. We won’t get the job we’re looking for. We learn because we are afraid to fail in life. That is the reason for our education. Now when we get into everyday life, we see new fears. At the very beginning, we learn (in a very natural way) to survive. And why do we do that? Obviously, we learn to survive because we fear for our lives. And even when we grow older, we learn to adapt to situations – either because we’re afraid to suffer or we’re afraid to die. I mention all these circumstances that can relate to my theory, but maybe I should look at a few cases where I can’t relate to fear. Uncontrolled learning does happen. We learn just by seeing and hearing and using our other senses. That happens without our control. Why does THAT happen? Why do we learn subconsciously? I think that’s a question for psychologists, but maybe not. It’s obviously a natural instinct used for survival, but can be used for other aspects other than survival. So I think IN ADDITION to fear, we learn because we can’t control ourselves. It’s as simple as that. But let’s get back to that snag we ran into earlier. How does learning for personal interest have to do with fear? As I think about it more and more, I’m starting to realize that maybe the two don’t relate, but there’s a catch. You have to ask why you are interested. Is it because you just want to know? But that can go on forever! Why do you want to know? I just do. Well why? It’s a nagging question that may not have an answer. I guess what it comes down to is one question; is there such thing as inquisitorial interest where the only gain from further learning/self-indulgence is simply pleasure? I don’t know, but I do think that most people usually have a reason for ‘being interested.’ Physiatrists want to learn more about the human mind because they want to UNDERSTAND (they are afraid of not knowing why someone acts the way they do). A historian wants to learn more about the civil war (he is afraid of dealing with the present so he obsesses with the past). There can be so many motives for why someone is interested. I really want to know, though: can someone be JUST INTERESTED? If it IS possible, then I think that becomes the most extraordinary learning of all. To be genuinely curious would be wonderful. And I think that is what needs to happen all the time. We shouldn’t be threatened into learning – we should be welcoming of it. But then again; what would the world be without a strict educational system? No mandatory schooling, no grades, no attendance policy, no tests, nothing that could cause fear. Would the world enjoy the learning process more and learn about the things that interest them? Or would people become lazy and do nothing other than survive? Can we lose appreciation for that miracle we have – the ability to learn? Would our ENTIRE system collapse as we know it? If we only had to learn for our survival, would we see a need for any further understanding? I think we would, but in this primal state, it would be entirely based on fear. We would fear death and therefore learn to make cures. We would fear the opinions of others, so we’d learn to make ourselves look better.
Why we learn is a tricky question. There are probably many reasons. Just a few that come to mind: interest, requirement, survival, uncontrolled, boredom, quest for enlightenment, to understand, etc. There are a lot of them. But I think it would be interesting to pose a theory that could be related to each one of the reasons given. I was thinking that perhaps the underlying reason for learning was fear. And that does sound very bleak. That was why I didn’t want to use that idea, but now I'm starting to think it might be a very valuable hypothesis worth exploring. If you think about it, fear is an emotion that drives us all in many ways. But there are many levels of fear. You can be afraid of change or you can be afraid for your life. There are very wide spectrums to the word and I think that range could be used to explain the sub-reasons for learning. I think this theory might run into some snags and loop holes. For instance, I was thinking about the opposing argument: but don’t we learn for our own personal interest? I thought about that and how fear could relate. You know, why ARE we interested in things? What sparks are attention? What is it about certain subjects that fascinate us and get us to research on our own? When I look at my own experiences, there are very few times that I have been interested in a subject enough to go to the library and read-up on it. Maybe I’ve looked up reviews on movies… or maybe I’ve researched s topic in order to prove someone wrong. But other than that, I don’t think I’ve ever looked up something PURELY based on interest (at least nothing too prominent; I’m sure I’ve done it in the past, but very briefly). I have asked questions about things and had people tell me what I wanted to know – whether that be school or at home. But I think THAT is how I find more about something. I ask people. I find it very dull looking for things on my own because I find it extremely frustrating when I don’t find what I’m looking for. When I ask a physical person, I get my answer from them. It’s much, much, simpler. And I think simplicity might have a lot to do with how we learn. But back to the “why.” When we learn in order to understand the unknown that can be related to fear. The saying goes that we always fear what we don’t understand. So we MUST learn if we are to rid ourselves of this fear – this fear for the unknown. When you look at the whole institution of school, you see that fear plays a big role. Why do we go to school as little kids? At that point, we’re still being told to do it, so we are afraid to not do it. Why are we afraid? Because our parents will get mad at us; and as a little kid, that’s a big fear. This same sort of idea weaves together our education, although it gets much more intense as schooling progresses. When you’re in elementary school, you are afraid to disappoint teachers and parents. It’s always scary getting yelled at by someone. As we approach middle school, that fear is less prominent, but it’s definitely there. That is why rules get stricter; to keep students afraid of not learning. NOTE: if you look at the kids who AREN’T learning, they are usually not afraid of authority. They don’t care if someone yells at them. They don’t mind punishment. They aren’t afraid, and as we can see, when the fear is purged, so is the necessity to learn. As students get to high school, there is a bigger fear. We fear for our futures. That is why we take things more seriously (and the rules get even stricter). We learn to do well on standardized tests and we learn to get good grades – all so that colleges will look at us favorably. We want a college education and the fear of not having one drives our high school learning. And then when we get into college, there is even a bigger fear. We become afraid to fail because then our resumes won’t look sharp. We won’t get the job we’re looking for. We learn because we are afraid to fail in life. That is the reason for our education. Now when we get into everyday life, we see new fears. At the very beginning, we learn (in a very natural way) to survive. And why do we do that? Obviously, we learn to survive because we fear for our lives. And even when we grow older, we learn to adapt to situations – either because we’re afraid to suffer or we’re afraid to die. I mention all these circumstances that can relate to my theory, but maybe I should look at a few cases where I can’t relate to fear. Uncontrolled learning does happen. We learn just by seeing and hearing and using our other senses. That happens without our control. Why does THAT happen? Why do we learn subconsciously? I think that’s a question for psychologists, but maybe not. It’s obviously a natural instinct used for survival, but can be used for other aspects other than survival. So I think IN ADDITION to fear, we learn because we can’t control ourselves. It’s as simple as that. But let’s get back to that snag we ran into earlier. How does learning for personal interest have to do with fear? As I think about it more and more, I’m starting to realize that maybe the two don’t relate, but there’s a catch. You have to ask why you are interested. Is it because you just want to know? But that can go on forever! Why do you want to know? I just do. Well why? It’s a nagging question that may not have an answer. I guess what it comes down to is one question; is there such thing as inquisitorial interest where the only gain from further learning/self-indulgence is simply pleasure? I don’t know, but I do think that most people usually have a reason for ‘being interested.’ Physiatrists want to learn more about the human mind because they want to UNDERSTAND (they are afraid of not knowing why someone acts the way they do). A historian wants to learn more about the civil war (he is afraid of dealing with the present so he obsesses with the past). There can be so many motives for why someone is interested. I really want to know, though: can someone be JUST INTERESTED? If it IS possible, then I think that becomes the most extraordinary learning of all. To be genuinely curious would be wonderful. And I think that is what needs to happen all the time. We shouldn’t be threatened into learning – we should be welcoming of it. But then again; what would the world be without a strict educational system? No mandatory schooling, no grades, no attendance policy, no tests, nothing that could cause fear. Would the world enjoy the learning process more and learn about the things that interest them? Or would people become lazy and do nothing other than survive? Can we lose appreciation for that miracle we have – the ability to learn? Would our ENTIRE system collapse as we know it? If we only had to learn for our survival, would we see a need for any further understanding? I think we would, but in this primal state, it would be entirely based on fear. We would fear death and therefore learn to make cures. We would fear the opinions of others, so we’d learn to make ourselves look better.
ABSTRACT: This scholarly essay proposes a challenging, controversial, and quite thought provoking theory behind the wonder of learning. It proposes that we, as humans, harbor a strong underlying fear that propels us to learn. It is fear that forces us to adapt and study. We are all slaves to this force, and because of it, the majority of the human race loses a simple beauty – we lose our genuine inquisitorial interest. The fear itself takes on many forms – each of which is discussed in this study. In this almost tyrannical system we have in place, this common fear leads us all to adapt. We all still learn, whether that be the cause of fear or not. But how does it happen? This essay proposes that it has to do with our natural instincts, and also through happiness. One can only learn when he/she is in good mental spirits. But with all this talk of learning, one would obviously wonder what needs to be learned. With such a misplaced driving force (fear), it is hypothetically suggested that we need not learn frivolous subjects such as history, science, mathematics, or grammar. In a primal world, these topics have little to do with natural survival – they have to do with societal survival. But what this study DOES encourage is learning based solely off of curiosity. With this suggestion in mind, the paper poses the ultimate question, “Can we and do we learn if we’re not afraid?”
No comments:
Post a Comment