The ultimate goal in this world is simply to understand. We were sent to this earth for a purpose, and it wasn’t just to live and then die. We need to be seeking for total understanding of absolutely any and all righteous subjects we desire. Ludwig Van Beethoven once said, “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets. For it, and knowledge, can raise men to the divine.” (Beethoven) There is no greater joy than understanding, and the wisdom that comes with it. It takes a lifetime to understand something, and only a moment to change that understanding. It is something you must constantly be seeking for. It does not matter in what area you choose, but try to fully understand something, for that will open the doors to every single other area of knowledge that exists. Every area of knowledge is connected together in a thick network that is penetrable one thread at a time through diligence. Becoming perfect and all-knowledgeable, such as God is, will not just happen overnight when we get resurrected or anything. We will still have to work for it, so we may as well get a head start on it right now. Knowledge is the source of understanding; and understanding is the source of wisdom. We must gain all three.
There is not much more important in this world than obtaining an education. We have great institutions set up for the continuous learning of studious pupils, as well as great masses of books and other educational writings available at our fingertips. Since we were young it has been pounded into our heads the need to go to college and get a degree, but why? I will touch on a few points, including what you should study, why, and what you can do with the things you have learned.
Some of the world’s greatest people have never obtained a formal education. Why do we place such an emphasis on it then? Brilliant minds don’t just happen; they must be nurtured and grown. Whether or not the education was formal does not mean they never got one. Some of the best education that has been reached has been informal. In Elder David A. Bednar’s article titled “Learning to Love Learning”, he stated that “The type of learning I am attempting to describe is not merely the accumulation of data and facts and frameworks; rather, it is acquiring and applying knowledge for righteousness.” (Bednar 2) The extraordinary thing about learning is that it doesn’t matter what you learn, as long as it is useful and interesting to you. In my case, I am at a university obtaining an education with the hopes of eventually getting a master’s degree. To me though, that college degree is not the most important education that I am reaching for right now. Although some might disagree, my training in the Martial Arts is even more important to me. Some people have indignantly contradicted me in my hopes for the future, but I know what’s important to me. I love it, and that is what matters. Just because someone, or everyone, might not see the usefulness of the particular education you are obtaining, that doesn’t mean it is wrong. If it is taking you down the right paths, giving you valuable knowledge, and giving you a place to go, then there is nothing wrong with it. Keep that in mind as you seek and set up the pieces of your future.
The greatest ability that continuous knowledge gives us is the ability to venture out on our own to seek and change the world to how we want it to be. Until you learn to tie your own shoes and feed yourself, you cannot break away from your parents and live life your own way. As such, until you learn the things you need to, you cannot break away from society as a whole and make your own paths. As you gain more knowledge, more of the world opens up to you. Nobody wants to just be part of the masses as they move. There is nothing substantial in that, and quite often they are wrong or jumping off of figurative cliffs without thinking first. Hitler had a good idea of how the masses worked. Aldous Huxley described how Hitler thought of the masses in his article titled “The Love of Learning.” He wrote that “the masses are utterly contemptible. They are incapable of abstract thinking and uninterested in any fact outside the circle of their immediate experience. Their behavior is determined, not by knowledge and reason, but by feelings and unconscious drives.” (Huxley 3) We cannot break away from the masses until we have gained sufficient knowledge to do so. Whatever education you strive for, make it proficient enough that you will not be constantly led on by those who wish you to just blindly believe. Granted, you will not be able to obtain all the knowledge of the world in even fifty lifetimes, but general education in all areas will give you enough to get started.
In the article titled “The Love of Learning” by David McCullough, he talked about how knowledge is not memorizing facts or anything like it, although that can be important. It can be a key in your life through some doorway, or out of some critical situation. The real importance of it though is what we decide to make of it. How we decide to use it will determine its usefulness to us. (McCullough 2) Too often there is too great an emphasis placed on memorizing facts such as the bones in our body, or important dates of the past. What you’ve got to realize is that the memorization is only the very beginning of learning. It is only the very scratch on the surface of the iron cage you are in. In order to break free and enter the world and discover all its value, you’ve got to know how to use that knowledge. You’ve got to go beyond the bounds that your teachers and coaches have set for you and discover what more there is to find. You cannot be taught and spoon fed everything. The most important part of learning is discovering things on your own, figuring out how they fit together, and working to use them in your life in whatever ways you might need to. Everything you learn should make you want to learn more.
Finally, your overall purpose in learning should include a deep desire to give back to the world the education that it gave you. Face it, learning is fun. There is almost no greater joy to be found in this world. As the generations pass, and we each learn, our new knowledge is compounded with our experiences and the knowledge is deepened and then passed on to those who come after us. Your knowledge came partially from others before you, and so you must give back too. That is the whole grand design behind learning. David Bednar also stated that:
Perhaps President Young was such a consummate learner precisely because he was not constrained unduly by the arbitrary boundaries so often imposed through the structures and processes of formal education. He clearly learned to love learning. He clearly learned how to learn. He ultimately became a powerful disciple and teacher precisely because he first was an effective learner. (Bednar, 2)
As you learn, you will become a teacher; you will become a guide to your children, your friends, anyone around you. One leads to the other, just as day follows night. Knowledge in the world then becomes a great snowball that just keeps rolling, gaining more substance, and gaining more momentum as the time goes on. That will only happen if we allow our contributions to the world of knowledge to be made known. Give back what has been given to you, with your own little seasoning and extra, inspired ingredients added to it too. What you find is yours to keep, but don’t be selfish by keeping it back from either people too. As you share knowledge with each other, everyone will grow and discover something new. Nobody can be totally knowledgeable in everything, but everyone together can be totally knowledgeable in everything. We need each other, and we need to all help each other along.
Tara J. Howard
Copyright 2014
