Capacity for Learning

[Jenne]

And then there's politics, sociology, psychology, astronomy, biology, anthropology, archeology, film study, everything related to computers... aargh... freakin' OVERLOAD! Methinks I need to take a chill pill and re-asses my goals...

Yup.

[LMNO]

This may sound rude, but it's honest.  How old are you again?

[Cramulus]

pick a topic, become an expert, pick a new topic

augment learning with discussion

explaining something you've learned to others is the best way to cement it into your brain

[Jenne]

I technically switched majors like 3 times when I was in uni.  So I feel dimo's pain a bit here.  I got to college and just went all carpe diem on the classes, taking stuff from evolution and Zen Buddhism (sorry, Rog!), to Chinese Politics and oceanography (hey! I was in Santa Barbara ffs).

Time of my LIFE, People.

So when it came to narrowing my choices in majors, I really ended up going with my gut.

And haven't looked back since.  (dropped poli sci IR, took up linguistics, and it stuck like hell)

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

Ok, I've been known (to myself, anyhow) to be a bit tough on myself if I feel as if though I am not learning enough, or learning fast enough. Sometimes I wonder if I've just hit a ceiling and have no more "room" left to learn. But, is it possible to reach a cap when it comes to learning?  I mean, I want to do more, but sometimes I feel as if it is beyond my capabilities. I dunno... Maybe nevermind... Maybe I'm just having my equivalent of a "fat day" and I'm just feeling stupid lately...

I've found that progress in skills seems to happen in bursts and then you kind of plateau for a while, but when you look back you find that you've learned more than you think you have even during the plateaus. Just keep at it, learn a little more every day and keep your current skills sharp.

[Dimocritus]

This may sound rude, but it's honest.  How old are you again?

28, but I feel 22. I'm three semesters into my college education, maintaining (roughly) a 3.8 GPA. I suppose I'm kind of a "late bloomer." Please to relate what this peice of information is relevant to?

[LMNO]

Eh, I was just thinking that I felt the way you do when I was in my 20s, but as it turned out, the learning never ended.

[AFK]

Have kids.  Having kids is very educational.  If you like your education to come with sleep and sex deprivation. 

[Dimocritus]

Y'know, now that I think about it, maybe it's my approach that's off. I spend a lot of time trying to disprove things like the social conventions and religious beleifs of others. Maybe I should try to be less confrontational in my learning process, and focus less on changing others' world views and focus more on defining my own?

Dimo-
What the hell do I know, anyway...

Also:

Have kids.  Having kids is very educational.  If you like your education to come with sleep and sex deprivation. 

Maybe some day, if I ever can figure out what the hell I'm doing...

[Eater of Clowns]

I'm going to paraphrase something Cain was saying, I think in one of his Rules for Life threads.  There's no shame in skipping the origin texts, say Freud, in favor of condensed "basics of" texts which analyze the primary sources with the years of knowledge accumulated since then.  With a degree in Psych I don't think I've ever read something by Freud, but I recognize the important bits and can elaborate on how certain aspects of his thinking have been expanded upon since his time.  That said, it's easy to get caught in trap where you read a book that attempts to tell you what the other books mean, as opposed to what the other books say.  You should be interpreting the meaning yourself, whether it's on the primary source or other responses to it.

As for learning itself, yeah, it slows as you get older in some aspects.  But other kinds of learning and skills increase and come closer to mastery.  Aging is a weird process like that.

I currently have the pleasure of teaching a guy in his late 40's computer, radio, and general dispatching procedure when he's never done it.  It sucks, I'm sure for him as much if not more than it does for me.

[LMNO]

Y'know, now that I think about it, maybe it's my approach that's off. I spend a lot of time trying to disprove things like the social conventions and religious beleifs of others. Maybe I should try to be less confrontational in my learning process, and focus less on changing others' world views and focus more on defining my own?

Dimo-
What the hell do I know, anyway...

If you're trying to disprove something, you're "using what you already know"; you're not really learning anything, unless you're both proved wrong, and are willing to accept the new information.

Learning, as far as I'm concerned, is a process of taking in new information, and only later figuring out what to do with it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

If you're trying to learn everything all at once, I think I can identify the problem...

This is possibly a more valid point than you even intended it to be. Trying to learn or do too many things at once, or being confronted with too many things to learn or do, can put you in shut-down mode without even being aware that's what's happening. Prioritizing, itself, is a learned skill, as is learning to set aside things that are not immediately relevant.

So if you feel like you're having a hard time learning, choose one thing to learn, and that is prioritization. After you've learned that, you can use that skill to select the next one or two things you want to learn, and focus on those.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Y'know, now that I think about it, maybe it's my approach that's off. I spend a lot of time trying to disprove things like the social conventions and religious beleifs of others. Maybe I should try to be less confrontational in my learning process, and focus less on changing others' world views and focus more on defining my own?

Dimo-
What the hell do I know, anyway...

If you're trying to disprove something, you're "using what you already know"; you're not really learning anything, unless you're both proved wrong, and are willing to accept the new information.

Learning, as far as I'm concerned, is a process of taking in new information, and only later figuring out what to do with it.

THISTHISTHISTHISTHIS.

If you're only looking at your side of an argument (let's say, for example, homeopathy) then you are not learning, you are only reinforcing what you have already decided to believe. This is why people who believe in ridiculous things are able to go on believing them; it's not hard to support a conclusion you've already come to if you are only looking up materials that support that conclusion. To really learn about something, you have to research multiple perspectives/studies/sources, weigh them for objectivity, and then you may find you don't even have a conclusion, just a lot of data that may or may not indicate anything one way or another.

An awful lot of science, and education in general, involves being able to know a lot about something without coming to absolute conclusions about it.

[Eater of Clowns]

Y'know, now that I think about it, maybe it's my approach that's off. I spend a lot of time trying to disprove things like the social conventions and religious beleifs of others. Maybe I should try to be less confrontational in my learning process, and focus less on changing others' world views and focus more on defining my own?

Dimo-
What the hell do I know, anyway...

If you're trying to disprove something, you're "using what you already know"; you're not really learning anything, unless you're both proved wrong, and are willing to accept the new information.

Learning, as far as I'm concerned, is a process of taking in new information, and only later figuring out what to do with it.

THISTHISTHISTHISTHIS.

If you're only looking at your side of an argument (let's say, for example, homeopathy) then you are not learning, you are only reinforcing what you have already decided to believe. This is why people who believe in ridiculous things are able to go on believing them; it's not hard to support a conclusion you've already come to if you are only looking up materials that support that conclusion. To really learn about something, you have to research multiple perspectives/studies/sources, weigh them for objectivity, and then you may find you don't even have a conclusion, just a lot of data that may or may not indicate anything one way or another.

An awful lot of science, and education in general, involves being able to know a lot about something without coming to absolute conclusions about it.

Was it Einstein that originally said "using it like a drunk uses a lamp post - for support not illumination"?  I heard it from James Carville when defending political opinion shows to Jon Stewart.  But what you're saying reminds me of that.

[Jenne]

...all this being said above, I think it's important to KEEP ON learning.  It actually is better to be doing "too much" with little focus, imho, than none at all and stagnating.  I don't want to go all wa-wa-woo-woo bullshit pscychobabbly (too late?), but really, personal growth or whateveryoucallit and learning from your experiences, getting out there and getting to know ideas, people and places other than yourself, yours and where you are born...THAT'S LIVING.