Why am I obsessed with continuous learning? Here are some reasons:
Sharpen the sword
The mind is like a sword. When meticulously maintained, the sharp blade is effective and efficient. But the sword — no matter how finely-crafted — dulls over time; this is just like how the mind’s abilities deteriorate with inactivity. Learning is the whetstone which sharpens the mind and restores it to its full potential.
The mental toolbox
The adventurous and entertaining physicist Richard Feynman was well-known amongst his friends for his uncanny ability to attack and solve problems that stumped others. At Princeton, Feynman was famous for his proficiency for solving nasty integrals, because he had a non-standard self-education in calculus. As Feynman later remarked, “[so] I had got a great reputation for doing integrals, only because my box of tools was different from everybody else’s, and they had tried all their tools on it before giving the problem to me” (87).
When we learn, we assemble a toolbox of information, frameworks, and valuable perspectives that we can use to approach and deconstruct even the most complicated problems.
Creativity
Learning fosters creativity, that much is evident. As Steve Jobs said, creativity is connecting seemingly disparate ideas and perspectives in new ways. In his book, Smarter Better Faster, author Charles Duhigg presents multiple studies which determined that many of the best academic papers (one of the most creative endeavors in the world) were the ones that applied previously-known ideas in novel methods. Learning allows us to expand what Steven Johnson calls “the adjacent possible,” and discover the universal links that connect all subjects and disciplines.
Community
Learning fosters interesting discourse with other engaged and bright individuals. Just as how Paul Valery claimed that a poet’s function was to inspire the poetic state within his readers, so too is the duty of a dedicated learner; the “professional” learner inspires others with his pursuit for knowledge and discovery. His enthusiasm and joy of discovery inspires his peers to also pursue learning, which results in fascinating dialogue, which inspires everyone to continue learning — it truly is an infectious and virtuous cycle.