I spent a weekend up in Cambridge touring one of the oldest universities in the world. A campus steeped in so much history, learning and discovery. People often travel to Cambridge to take a trip to the past. To feel as if they're back in the 1300s, in hallowed halls that haven't changed in centuries. The buildings of Cambridge are seen as comforting indications of the power of humanity over time, and the steadfastness of education and learning in an ever changing world.
But what makes Cambridge, and every institution of learning so much more valuable is what happens inside those buildings - the 800 year old ones and the ones just built last year. Inside those buildings, learning is still the main currency. People enter with open minds (for the most part), there to learn about the world be it math or science or history or everything else. And they leave a few hours, days, or years later with new knowledge, new ideas and a world view shaped by their experiences in those hallowed halls.
We tend to lose that desire for new knowledge once we leave school. We become ensconced in our opinions and views shaped by only the "formative" years of our lives. We refuse to take in new realities and new worlds and instead spend hours coming up with defenses for our beliefs. We don't take the time to try to poke holes in our arguments, to try and see the other side, or to understand new and changing scientific discoveries.
I think we forget how perhaps we aren't the most "learned" in certain fields of study and that there will always be something more to learn. Sometimes we don't want to accept realities because they don't make logical sense in the world we have created, or we're scared of the consequences of said reality. But the human population has survived some major shifts in the centuries we've been on earth - we discovered entire new continents, we came up with a universal concept of human rights, we learned about the history of life and evolution, we created free and democratic governments. And now we are in the midst of even more changes and adaptations.
Even if you can't see what's happening right in your backyard, or you don't personally know anyone affected by these changes, I urge you to continue learning before you pass judgements and take stances. To actually read up on both sides of the stories, to go back to college and look for the facts of the case. To listen to people studied in those fields. And to shape your opinion based on all these combined. But most importantly to be open to the possibility that your opinion can still change with the changing of the world around you. Because ultimately in times of change learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
But what makes Cambridge, and every institution of learning so much more valuable is what happens inside those buildings - the 800 year old ones and the ones just built last year. Inside those buildings, learning is still the main currency. People enter with open minds (for the most part), there to learn about the world be it math or science or history or everything else. And they leave a few hours, days, or years later with new knowledge, new ideas and a world view shaped by their experiences in those hallowed halls.
We tend to lose that desire for new knowledge once we leave school. We become ensconced in our opinions and views shaped by only the "formative" years of our lives. We refuse to take in new realities and new worlds and instead spend hours coming up with defenses for our beliefs. We don't take the time to try to poke holes in our arguments, to try and see the other side, or to understand new and changing scientific discoveries.
I think we forget how perhaps we aren't the most "learned" in certain fields of study and that there will always be something more to learn. Sometimes we don't want to accept realities because they don't make logical sense in the world we have created, or we're scared of the consequences of said reality. But the human population has survived some major shifts in the centuries we've been on earth - we discovered entire new continents, we came up with a universal concept of human rights, we learned about the history of life and evolution, we created free and democratic governments. And now we are in the midst of even more changes and adaptations.
Even if you can't see what's happening right in your backyard, or you don't personally know anyone affected by these changes, I urge you to continue learning before you pass judgements and take stances. To actually read up on both sides of the stories, to go back to college and look for the facts of the case. To listen to people studied in those fields. And to shape your opinion based on all these combined. But most importantly to be open to the possibility that your opinion can still change with the changing of the world around you. Because ultimately in times of change learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
