I would rather think of life as a good book.
The further you get into it,
The more it begins to come together and make sense.
The above quotation by the famous American Conservative Rabbi, Harold S. Kushner, always impressed me as a powerful comment on the real meaning of life and learning, worthy of inclusion in any educational program.The further you get into it,
The more it begins to come together and make sense.
Learning is generally defined as a “process of acquiring knowledge or skill through study, experience or teaching”. But to me, true learning is much more complex than this. It can only be considered meaningful when it is accompanied with changes in the basic understanding and behavioral potential of the individual. It is not merely the acquisition of information but rather the assimilation of such information and its incorporation into the individual’s being.
........In truth, we are what we learn.
Of all the great teachers we encounter along the way, the experience of Living is by far the greatest and most effective of all, a fact recognized by most of the great thinkers and philosophers throughout the ages. The great ancient Roman philosophers Pliny and Tacitus insisted that Experience is the most efficient teacher, and Julius Caesar publicly acknowledged that Experience is the teacher of all things.
The history of the modern world is replete with examples of people who have become very successful in every conceivable aspect of life without completion of the appropriate “formal education”. This should not be surprising since in most instances their success is based on their innate ability to maximize their life experience. The following are some of the thousands of examples of people whose contributions have changed the course of history:
Abraham Lincoln, considered one of the greatest U.S. Presidents, finished 1 year of schooling, then continued by self-teaching to become a lawyer.
Andrew Jackson, successful as a soldier, lawyer, judge and U.S. president, was essentially home-schooled without formal education.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the greatest sons of America, a founding father of the nation, inventor, scientist, author and entrepreneur, was primarily home-schooled.
Christopher Columbus, the great explorer who discovered the Americas was essentially self-taught, learning all the intricacies of sailing from experience.
Frank Lloyd Wright, possibly the most famous architect of the twentieth century, never continued beyond primary school.
Henry Ford, the father of the assembly line for car-making never completed high school.
Winston Churchill, considered one of the greatest British statesmen, historian and artist, failed high school and never attended college. He was credited with saving Britain during WWII.
……The list is as endless as it is international.
Over the last generation, in our lifetime, most of the very successful inventors, entrepreneurs and game changers have been high school and/or college dropouts who chose to abandon the formal programs of learning to go their own way. These include:
Bill Gates and Paul Allen(microsoft), Michael Dell (computers), Larry
Over the last generation, in our lifetime, most of the very successful inventors, entrepreneurs and game changers have been high school and/or college dropouts who chose to abandon the formal programs of learning to go their own way. These include:
Bill Gates and Paul Allen(microsoft), Michael Dell (computers), Larry
Ellison(oracle), Steve Jobs(apple), Larry Page and Sergio Brin(google), Mark
Zuckerberg(facebook),
Because of their efforts, they have succeeded in changing the world in unimaginable ways over a period less twenty five years. In all these cases, these exceptional people chose to forego the conventional road to enrichment, and trusting their instincts, go forward learning as they moved on.
The real truth is that we are all endowed with the ability to learn from experience, if we only allow ourselves the flexibility to do so. Instead we tend to spend our lives locked into certain boundaries of our own doing which we zealously guard under the pretext of “the right way”, afraid or unwilling to venture forward and risk failure. As a result we are left out on the periphery while we admire and sometimes envy them and their achievements.
Because of their efforts, they have succeeded in changing the world in unimaginable ways over a period less twenty five years. In all these cases, these exceptional people chose to forego the conventional road to enrichment, and trusting their instincts, go forward learning as they moved on.
The real truth is that we are all endowed with the ability to learn from experience, if we only allow ourselves the flexibility to do so. Instead we tend to spend our lives locked into certain boundaries of our own doing which we zealously guard under the pretext of “the right way”, afraid or unwilling to venture forward and risk failure. As a result we are left out on the periphery while we admire and sometimes envy them and their achievements.
Perhaps we should all take heed of the observation of the great British scientist, author and futurist, Sir Arthur Charles Clarke who advised:
The only way of finding the limits of the possible,
is by going beyond them into the impossible.
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is by going beyond them into the impossible.
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