Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Change and Learning



Recently some friends and I were pondering the question, "What absolutely delights you?" As I thought about this, two things came to mind immediately, and they are somewhat related. I am absolutely delighted by learning. I have a nearly insatiable curiosity - at least about things that interest me.

I could tell you a half dozen things about the Egyptian God Horus represented in this photo off the top of my head. Because I'm interested in that. Unfortunately, this does not extend to topics in which I do not have an inherent interest.

But I love to pick up those little "tidbits," as I call them, about various things. I'm horrible at trivial pursuit because I have little interest in movies and such. I'd be far more likely to do well with questions about ancient mathematicians than I would about movie actors. Honestly, sometimes when I drive by a theatre, I don't even recognize the names of the movies.

So, learning really delights me. The other thing that definitely delights me is meaningful/interesting conversation. I think it is somewhat related to learning because during such conversation I'm likely to learn something.

As I thought more about this, I began to wonder if people who like to learn also manage change better. It seems like a reasonable jump - people who are engaged in learning and are confident they can learn something new, would feel less overwhelmed by change. I'm not sure this is a solid principle, I'm still mulling it over.

And, of course, whatever conclusion I come to is just me prattling on and has no basis in scientific fact. It's just interesting to think about.

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