How do we learn? We make the greatest progress through insights - the acquisition of discrete packets of understanding, learning moments. These may come spontaneously in the form of intuition, or they may be guided, part of a structured course - formal education, or picked up from a YouTube video.
We build our overall understanding of life and the universe through a whole series of insights, not necessarily connected; many of these learning moments coming randomly throughout our lives.
Of course, if we want to grow in understanding, we should actively seek them out, watching educational videos rather than football matches or soap operas or reading about celebrities. Though even here, moments of deep insight can occur from time to time (I'd surmise that these would tend to centre around determination).
It occurred to me maybe about 12 years ago that I am actually a slow learner - these learning moments, these insights, which build into understanding, come to be five or ten years (or more!) after those of my peers who are at the leading edge of thought. What has been holding me back?
Laziness, distraction, lack of focus, setting the wrong priorities... and here we are in the territory of personality traits and disorders. Attention deficit, obsessions, mood swings and addictions all get in the way of learning and growth.
The 'growth' here relates to understanding of classical reality at our human scale; learning moments related to work, business, economics, household matters etc. But how about spiritual growth?
When I think back to my childhood and youth, I have always had an innate sense of the notion of a Deity. At first this would have been through the Catholic church, but then in adolescence I began questioning many of its dogmas and practices, and drifted away, seeking improved pathways to God - which of course necessitate an improved understanding of the nature of God.
This is not just an intellectual pursuit. It is central to my being. It is a journey guided by intuition and by insights, chance discussions, deep thoughts often on solitary walks, all coming together to form an ever-higher level of understanding.
One cannot spend every waking moment of life pursuing the Numinous, seeking answers to nothing other than the Holy Mysteries. Our material reality calls for action - getting stuff done. But the balance between physical reality and the spiritual must be addressed in our day-to-day lives. Hence my frequent question, "how much spirituality do we need?". I feel this increases as we get older and more aware of our mortality.
The development of the internet, unfettered access to knowledge, offers us new chances to escape down new rabbit-holes; delving into diverse areas of knowledge deeper and deeper as the hours fly past. The oft-quoted '10,000 hour' rule - practice making perfect - comes into play here. As we dive down our newly-opened rabbit holes, are we indeed finding they deepen or broaden our knowledge? Are they mere distractions, the result of attention deficit, or are they obsessions - restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests - the result of being on the Asperger's spectrum? Is a quest for perfection - obsessive-compulsion - preventing us from developing? Are we being held back by an unhealthy focus on our Ego, framing our development largely in terms of how others see us - PhD, MBA, CEO?
I cannot say that every human has their own innate, built-in, sense of spiritual wonder or any kind of metaphysical mission. This element is, I think, key - not everyone seeks God, not everyone is looking for an understanding of life and the universe in spiritual terms. Many people are comfortable with an entirely materialist-reductionist explanation for why we are here and what is our purpose. I wouldn't even want to try to change their minds. However, it is highly educational to talk with them, to reason, to bounce my arguments off their counter-arguments, making my thinking more robust.
Yet for me, the most fruitful learning, however, comes from listening to intuition. And having just written those words, intuition comes to me and says - "yes, that's right".
Lent 2022: Day 12
Understand our Universe and our physical reality
Lent 2021: Day 12
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