space.discussion.Learning+Continuously.

Learning Continuously.
Retaining, discovering, and processing new information at every moment of your life for your whole life, regardless of requirement or extrinsic motivational factors.

May 21st

School has convinced many of us that the process of "learning" is only what goes on behind the doors of an educational institution. That is, tests, quizzes, mandatory projects, and late night home work assignments are the usual description of how to learn in modern society. What we've forgotten is that while these methods are effective means of retaining information, they are not the only forms of doing so. This ties directly into a more important concept, which is learning continuously-- regardless of what the circumstances are, and whether it is mandatory to do so. I began to truly grasp this idea in a recent project conducted, where we were told to pick a topic of interest, form a narrow research questions, and research it to our heart's content. This lends itself more to learning continuously than first glance provides for.

Of course, such a project occurs over the brevity of a few weeks, and in that sense could hardly be called "continuous". However, such a project in my mind displayed and instigated the very mentality behind continuous learning- the intrinsic drive. As I developed and looked deeper into my subject at hand (nuclear fission and fusion), I realized more and more that there comes a point where you explore something not because you are told to, but simply because it fascinates you. I reached this point, and found myself striving to understand concepts far from what was relevant to the criteria. Rather, I simply wanted to know for the sake of knowing. So as I buried myself in the fuel cycles and web pages discussing P-P fusion reactions in light stars, I understood that this was the kind of drive that one must carry with themselves at all times, not just during an assigned task.

So when I venture off into the realms of science or academics at any point, and especially at all the times in between, I feel that it's important and crucial to look beyond the requirements of the moment, and just see the world as a fascinating big jumble of information that is ours to discover. Not only will such a mindset result in a non-stop gaining of knowledge, but will keep my mind fit, active, and in a well oiled state that will serve me for years. This particular habit of mind, though not necessarily my most well practiced (I have many moments of incredible lethargy), is one that I have grown in the most over the year. I am trying to get myself out of the habit of simply letting my mind go blank when doing the in-between tasks, but rather observe and learn. After all, our brains don't stop working after school ends-- why should we treat it as if it had?

Above is the link to some of notes I made during the project- much of the information I did not thoroughly discuss during the presentation, but simply knew in my own head.

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