The kids and I had an interesting discussion last night on the way home from our bible study about the frustration of learning difficult things. We talked about three frustrations in particular even though I do not think we identified them specifically in a neat little list while we talked about them. The frustrations were that some topics are 1) too vast to know everything about them (politics, economics, world religions), 2) too complicated to understand without lots of intense effort over months or years of study (mathematics, quantum mechanics, object oriented programming), and 3) too agenda filled to get to the truth from any one source (stem cell research, global warming, Christianity, homosexuality). Many people are comfortable with what they know either because “they do not know what they do not know” or they do not feel a need to improve on the knowledge they already have.
Kelly started the conversation when she said, “Dad, you know why you believe stuff, but there are lots of things like economics, wars in different places, and other stuff like that, that I want to know about, but I am not so interested that I am willing to read a lot about them. I know if I read World Magazine from cover to cover, I would know a lot more about those things than I do. I try to do that, but I get really bored and end up only reading half or a quarter of the articles that don’t interest me.”
I gave her my standard lecture about how difficult it was for me to make the switch from sequential programming in C to object oriented programming in C++. There was just too much stuff to learn all at once. No one item is difficult by itself, but one has to get their arms around a ton of those not so difficult items all at once to make any sense of the whole. One of the older guys saw my frustration and recommended I get my hands on several books and, more importantly start reading one of the programming trade rags (Dr. Dobbs Journal) on a regular basis.
He said, “There will be a lot of confusing information in those articles, but if you just skim through them, even if you do not understand what you read, you will have engaged with the vocabulary and one or two of the concepts for the topics. Each time you read through the magazine, you will understand more of what you read. Pretty soon, you will not only understand the stuff with which you are frustrated now, but you will be able to pick up brand new material more easily. Mostly, remember that you will be confused when you get started on something new. Just do not let that confusion frustrate you.”
That advise served me well. We then talked about some of things Kelly had learned just that way, the most recent of which were probably knitting and Geometry, but which also includes riding a bicycle, reading, piano playing, intelligent design, analysis of world views, comic drawing, desktop publishing, and a broad range of other items. The thing that might be a little different now is that the topics are getting broader and have people with different agendas demanding adherence to their viewpoints to the exclusion of other viewpoints.
So, in addition to the frustration of learning complex or vast things, there is the problem of knowing what is really true. We then talked about the importance of knowing what we do not know. We remembered some discussions with people who expressed very strong opinions based on false premises. I explained that I have held (and probably still hold) very strong opinions that I based on false assumptions. I told her that, in discerning what is true, our first attachment must be to love of God, then truth, but that they really go hand in hand in every circumstance if we take them deep enough. This is a discussion I expect and hope will be an on-going one. I know it was helpful for me to think about it.
Oh my, yes: There is just so much to know, and it is really hard to get to the bottom of everything.
I really like your three reasons why learning is difficult. You’ve summed it up very well. And I’d throw abortion and vaccinations into the “too agenda filled” category… at least, they’re so agenda filled in the circles I’ve encountered that people have trouble really communicating with and trusting each other.
~Luke
I agree with your abortion and vaccinations categories, too. Part of the reason that I did not put abortion in there is because we feel so strongly about it and it might have distracted from the point I was trying to make. Abortion actually came up in the conversation in the car.
I did not think about vaccinations. Maybe that is because we have an agenda there that is so deeply ingrained that we do not consider the alternative. Hmmm… I need to think about that.
So, why learn at all?
I agree wholeheartedly Eric. It hurts my head! That is definitely the question, although Guillermo Gonzalez has some very interesting observations in that regard. He wrote about them in this book.
It seems like there is very little in life that is totally right or totally wrong. Not much on earth can be packaged into neat little bundles and be absolutely true, perfect and complete. The joy of learning is in mastering a fund of knowledge, yes, but even more importantly, in the development of critical thinking. I find the most intelligent, interesting, and compassionate people are the ones who hear/learn about all sides of a situation/idea/topic and use their best judgment. There are many subjects which we can hardly expect to know ALL there is to know but we can still keep learning and evolving into better people and greater thinkers. My biggest stumbles have occurred when I’ve looked at facts (or at least my version of them) instead of the person in front of me. Hats off to your family for discussing such matters so openly. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your thoughts Youngin. The times when I have been demonstrably wrong on a closely held conviction are too many to count. My problem when I listen to all sides is that I have a tendency to accept the side that appeals to me or the side of the person who is most appealing. It is even harder when one believes in absolute truth. The corollary to that problem is that I often have way too much confidence in my own ability to identify that truth. I guess that is why there is so much emphasis on the Holy Spirit in the bible.
So true!
I just read back through that. My kids tell me that I sometimes sound like an arrogant know-it-all. I hope it did not sound this time. I HATE it when they are right about stuff like that. At any rate, I really appreciate your comments Youngin.
Yo solo se, que no se nada 🙂
Eres MUY inteligente Lorena. Todo ese tiempo yo había creído que Sócrates había dicho eso.
Clarification: No, Ken, you did not sound like “an arrogant know-it-all”. I find your thoughts as good fodder for thought and seeing it from YOUR perspective as a parent, is even more interesting. I was just commenting on the overall concept of balancing learning factual knowledge with searching for absolutes. Not always harmonious, unfortunately. Thanks for posting and for being insightful!
Thanks Youngin!
I can’t speak to quantum mechanics or object oriented programming ~ whatever they are? ~ but I can talk about trees in regards to this theme….if I really s t r e t c h it a bit.
As you know, I have a special affinity for trees.
We have studied trees in our homeschooling, especially those in our neighborhood, for years. One year we went around and took pictures of trees, their seed and leaves and did bark rubbings. We played matching games…the seeds and bark and leaves to their particular tree… among other games. The number of trees that we could identify increased and we also learned about the lifecycle, etc…..It seemed that I wanted to know everything, all at once, about trees and I wanted to learn it by looking at them and studying them (wanting to teach the kids about the fun of discovery) and not by reading about it in a book, and I would get frustrated (dragging around 4 small kids on my adventures) that there was only a small window in each cycle which to physically discover all about it. But, then I came upon a revelation from the Lord. If I keep looking and seeking, it is all there, ready and patiently waiting to be discovered. The trees do pretty much the same things every year and I don’t have to try to learn everything this season, or even next season….I just keep building upon my knowledge every year. He gave us inquisitive minds and in His great mercy and love, gave us plenty of things in this life to ponder about that are patiently waiting for us to discover them…be it stem cell research or global warming or trees…if we keep asking questions and searching.
So, Dr. Dobbs was right….just keep trucking along and keep building upon the knowledge that you have every year, and thank the Lord that we don’t know it all and that we haven’t arrived yet. Life would be so much less interesting, and fun, wouldn’t it?
When I got out of college, I thought I knew it all too, but soon discovered that what I had learned in school was only the very tip of the iceberg…and that actually was very exciting to me, particularly because I am a person who thrives on investigation,learning and discovery.
Treasure every aha moment that you have in this life and thank the Lord for it!
Great comments Ruthie. You described very well the ideas I was trying to capture in the post. The reality is that just plugging away at it over time gets you a lot further than trying to do it all at once. You cannot learn everything, but you can learn a lot. You cannot be an expert and know what there is to know on many things, but you can do that for some things. I think this whole exercise has been very good for me–maybe even more than for the kids. I am going to keep plugging at those things I have been given to do with new vigor!!
Ken, I’m enjoying playing “catch-up” again. I like this post very much. I agree that you did a great job summing up the roadblocks to learning in various areas of study!
Lynn
Lynn, Thanks a lot for all your comments. It sounds like you are in the same boat as many of the rest of us. I really read about 10-11 blogs daily. Yours is one of those. Sometimes I get behind and want to catch up, but I need to wait for a free hour or two to do it. I also want to comment on a lot of the stuff because it is so nice to let people know you have helped them or given them a great idea. The problem is that there are only so many hours in a day… We really appreciate your visits here!