Process of learning

The process of learning is something that you have to understand before you can start utilizing it. You cannot learn properly without learning to learn first. Quite a paradox, but unfortunately absolutely true story.

Learning to learn

When you want to understand something, you have to gain information about it and you have to understand the information itself aswell! It's a complex concept to think about, but it's easier when you imagine and think about how babies learn new stuff. The do it by trial and error, this way a new neural pathways are formed in their brain, defining what works and what doesn't. When you see a hot steaming surface for the first time, you will feel urge to investigate it. When you receive the negative feedback by touching it, your brain saves this experience with a big red flag connecting steam, heat distortion, surface looking heat retainable and the sensual experience of pain and high temperature maybe even laying grounds for first reflexes and creating first procedures of reactions to when this happens next time (like cooling your damaged limb under cold water)

The process of learning is different for everyone. Someone can be most efficient when learning through practice (the most common way to learn stuff) and someone can be most effective when learning combining theory with practice at the same time. Others may learn best going through theory and then solidifying it in practice. That's why everyone has to learn how to learn on their own. 

Learning is more natural when we are young, that's just how our brains are wired by biology. The older we get, the more we lean on experience and artificially built processes that brings us better and wanted results. So we have to learn how to transform gained experience from memory to knowledge - basically dumping our short-term memory into the long-term and building neural connections that let us utilize our memory in processes. For some, this process is unattainable without help, for others it's even more natural than learning through practice.

Practice makes perfect

We were told this all the time when we still were attending school. It is true, but not completely. You cannot practice the same thing indefinitely and expecting different results each time. The beauty of the idiom "Practice makes perfect" is that when you expand on this idea - the more precise saying would be "Changing variables in practice unearths perfection". So yes - keep practicing, but change something every time and observe the effects on the results. You will almost certainly naturally arrive into the most efficient and perfect solution to every problem you face.

Even though practice is important part of learning new stuff. You have to also understand the concepts of anything you do to properly learn about it. Theory and practice are more or less two parts of the same principle - and you have to commit to them both in order to grasp the final result completely. One cannot exist without the other. 

Learn the theory, master the craft

Seems like a glorified saying forcing everyone to read first before they engage with the "craft". Who are they who force us to to learn stuff without us engaged in it? The main objective for a teacher is to spark a fire of interest in their students and let the students explore their engagement themselves! Provide the tools and show how to use them, everyone has to build their own pillars of knowledge and no one can build one for others.. Mentors exist, because they help solving problems that seem unsolvable, they steer our focus into proper directions and shows us options that remained hidden for us. Personal coaches exist, because they force us to look into a mirror without the pink tint and look ourselves as critically as possible, without any sugar coating. 

But, as I said before, everyone has to come up with their own style of learning. Human mind is so complex biologic process, it is only natural (and because evolution is a thing) for each of us to be different. And having a free will comes up with that price of having to learn everything yourself. But cherish your individuality and it rewards you with wisdom and happiness.

Life itself can be described by a simple label: "Easy to learn, hard to master". Keeping yourself alive is easy. Living your life to your full potential is a mastery you have yet to reach. And I think that is the best part of being alive, trying out different things and experiencing all there is to experience. 

The point of living

The biggest question of all philosophical masterminds was the point of life. The reason behind our complexity and ingenuity. And the goal which we should aim for. This unaswerable indefinite question has plaqued humanity eternally and everyone comes up with different answers. I am person of science and logic and purely by statistical analysis and by weighting different possibilites I came up to conclusion, that the point of living is to utilize your entire biological toolset as much as possible. We live in a world full of vast experiences, complex mechanisms and rules of physics that bends our minds constantly. What better goal should one have than to try it all out?

Learning stuff is a major part of living and experiencing. To manufacture a table, you first need to learn how to use the tools, to jump from an airplane, you have to learn how to use the parachute and to fire and to drive a car, you have to learn how to even start it. Unfortunately, our time is biologically limited (as of time of writing this post). It is not possible to learn everything - but trying to do it shall be the most enjoyable thing, that you can do.

Breaking the shackles of society

A lot of people were arguing in discussions about this concept. Some of the arguments were facts about having to subdue to societal rules to be able to do anything you want. Like - you have to make money to be able to buy something to experience. I am not disagreeing with this statement, but there is no reason not to experience the "cheap stuff" learning new skills in the process and utilize everything you acquire on the way to finance your experiences further down the road.