Natural Learning

427

Learning, or gaining new knowledge (however you wanna call it) is a fundamental part of being human. Without constantly improving, looking for things not yet discovered, a life quickly becomes meaningless. Or at least, dull.

So, if we all have to be constantly learning, we sure know how to do it, right?

Yes and no.

Let's look at the way we've been learning by default during the last one hundred years; systematically. Everything was divided into subjects, which then were divided into courses, the courses had sections, the sections had topics, the topics had numbered exercises, and so on and so on. Every single bit of information perfectly laid out in an orderly manner. Like a spreadsheet, equalized.

Unfortunately this isn't the way we've been gathering knowledge since the dawn of time. Knowledge is organic; every new 'bit' of information is like a leaf on a branch of a tree. Every leaf is different, but always connected to different ones, all part of the tree.

This, is how information is, not the other way around. We can't force a tree into being a spreadsheet. It just doesn't work.

There are, of course, a few benefits of the equalized approach; it's quicker. Not in the sense that you will actually learn faster, but you won't have to spend time on looking for what's next. Everything's already on the table. Here, you're just the consumer, not the cook.

We can't let the trees die.