The Importance of Learning Daily:

I would consider myself to be a philomath, because of the urgency I possess to always refine my crafts and pursue my passions. A philomath is a philosophical term used to describe someone who is a lover of knowledge and studying. I am not a traditional studier in the sense of reading information verbatim, and then attempting to memorize that information; but rather I pick up the information that resonates most with me in order to implement as a daily practice. All people have at least one natural talent, but the amount of skills an individual holds can vary widely. In order to develop a skill, one must be willing to not only consume information, but apply in consistent practice to refine that information towards their skills. Learning something every day is so critical and we all unconsciously learn new information daily, but what is the point of learning new things just to discard them moments later? On average, our brain discards nearly 80% of newly learned information after only one day. This could explain why many of us are so opinion driven in argumentation and debate, because even facts of topics we feel strongly about ultimately get omitted from our memory just based on how the brain functions. The great philosopher Plato famously said — “Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance”.

In the golden age of social media and instant interaction, our society is quick to accept and regurgitate opinion before confirming it as either knowledge or ignorance. The danger of us this nature is that opinion is now the new age news, and is often used to mimic truth.  Therefore, we must practice detection of truth rather than openly accept truth. This is why books are an ideal information outlet rather than social media or most news platforms; because books are conceived through research, meditated thought process, and are forms of permanent record so the information can properly be identified as truth. Now, the whole objective to learning is gaining wisdom. So if we are learning from a tweet or politically skewed news headline that can be disposed or edited in a couple of clicks, is that really gaining wisdom? Learning reputable knowledge detection and studying key truths will allow someone to improve self-esteem, gain perspective to innovate, and ultimately nurture a clear and calmer mind not cluttered with opinion. Once you achieve objective learning and thinking you can reasonably share the knowledge with your family, friends, and colleagues; and in turn achieve the purpose of servicing your community to be better than they were yesterday.

*BONUS: If reading just really isn’t your preference for informational growth, I highly recommend watching a TEDTalk at some point in your daily spare time, but be sure to research the background of the speaker prior to watching. This ensures to your conscious that you are being fed well-reasoned information that is not structured by political agenda, and opens up your mind for independent thinking and criticism*