Self Improvement

Things To Think About

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Education or Indoctrination,
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Being Human

The Condition Of Our ConditionArticles on the Human condition and how we might improve it.







Doesn't Everyone Know How To Learn?   By R.E. Darby


Our ability to learn is rarely questioned. We apparently just assume that we are born with these skills. If that were true, why then does virtually every university in America have a student services department that offers learning skills as a major resource?


The Concept of Learning


Back when we were babies in our cribs just beginning to notice the world around us such as movement, sounds, colors, textures and sensations such as hot and cold we were also beginning to evaluate those sensations qualitatively such as; pleasant not pleasant etc.

In the context of learning ability this activity may not be relevant. It may be more about our basic cognitive awareness related to our survival instincts rather than consciously directed behavior. The concept of learning as we are using it here, may take advantage of our cognitive abilities but involves much more of a personal investment. And this is before getting into the subject of the relationship between learning and how Humans create reality.


The Sum Of Our Knowledge


The basic formula goes something like this. The spirit hosts the mind, mind causes thoughts, thoughts cause action, action cause the manipulation of energy into infinite manifestations of matter and this matter constitutes our objective reality, the world of things. When the Human life form decides that an idea will become knowledge, the Human then can base understanding on that knowledge and understanding leads to belief. Belief is a critical element in the formula by which Humans are able to translate thoughts into physical reality.

But knowledge and understanding involve the activity of learning. Consider how important this is. If our learning skills are somehow underdeveloped or in some way disabled, then our knowledge will not be deep or of high quality. When that is the case, our understanding will reflect this situation and so any beliefs based on defective knowledge and understanding will also be defective. This is essentially a condition of ignorance.

The Quality of Reality


What realities will be created by understanding built on ignorance generated by low quality knowledge? The answer is found all around us. A well developed learning ability based on high quality learning skills seems to be a critical element of a positive Human evolution, remember, the fact of evolution doesn't guarantee the quality of that evolution. We could be evolving back to the dark ages. We can't just assume that we have learning skills and ability, these are realities that must be consciously developed through determined effort and practice.


Not The Only Problem


Learning skills alone aren't the only problem. What we learn and in what order, also becomes an issue, and this will depend on what if any values we have in place. Will we first learn how to be obedient citizens? Or will we first learn what it is to be an individual Human life form living among many other life forms including our own? And what might we discover and what might we trade off by going in either direction?

On the one hand, we might discover the power and potential that is part of our natural inheritance and in so discovering, set out on a journey to fulfill the promise of that power and potential. We might trade off our servitude as beast of burden or the life of a robot.

On the other hand, we might sacrifice everything in order to serve the needs of a social system that may well have, and almost always does, outgrow its relevancy to the point where it no longer serves the citizens as intended, but seeks to perpetuate itself above all else? We might make such sacrifices in the name of some strange idea of safety and security, an idea no doubt created by that very social system.

If we are not learning and growing, we are decaying and dying. If we are not learning and growing, then we are not aware, and the unaware are vulnerable to the manipulations of outside influences, even the influences of our own creations such as social systems, economic systems, political systems. Today, acquiring learning skills and raising the level of awareness and understanding of the individual is a critical prerequisite for the survival of a healthy civilization. The question is; will we realize this in time?


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