It is undeniable that learning is a fundamental skill in the process of life. On a very basic sense, learning is an evolved version of basic observations, to not only take in information around you, but to store it, to make sense of it, and hopefully if it’s useful enough, to apply it elsewhere in your life. But with new discoveries being made every day, as well as the world changing consistently with every passing second, trying to learn everything is simply an impossible task.

Many people nowadays have the opportunity to learn anything they want. So how do we choose? Being partially raised by the messages and themes of films within the 21st century, I am inclined to go with the thought that everyone has a passion to pursue in life, as well as a personality that determines how they live, and thus should actively search for things that will help get there. In essence, the American education system follows a somewhat similar path. School covers a wide array of subjects that primarily serve as a method of exploration, and is very surface level to allow students, if they haven’t already, to find their strengths and interests. Of course, the system is flawed, as it focuses on only one of the multiple forms of intelligence in order to groom the future generations to be yet another gear in the American system machine, however, it still is free enough to allow people to have somewhat of a choice in what type of gear they wish to be. A typical American student will continue to have growing options in what classes they take, they will heave ready access to other outside activities for further consideration of various interests, and a college major that fully focuses on their potential occupation. But this is all very surface level information that I’m sure the majority of the population can understand. What has greater importance in my opinion is what following your passion MEANS in the context of learning the information around you. Following one path ensures the sacrifice of learning more about another. As said before, the information in the world seemingly has no end, and very few have goals that require precedence of learning a little bit of everything rather than be skilled in only what they need.

How is this an important topic? It is a basic principle that no one knows everything, and that people are better at certain subjects in comparison to others, the concept of strengths and weaknesses is not NEW by any means. While this is true, sometimes the simplest truths are the easiest to forget. Recently I came across a video in which the creator asked a question that I felt was very valid, although it seems my fellow viewers did not share the same mindset. They had decided to berate and shame this individual for simply wanting to learn and was in the process of doing so. I failed to grasp why they were so aggressive towards this person simply because they didn’t KNOW something. I pondered for some time, and this is what I was able to discern from the situation.

Learning is a concept that is entirely dependent on a variety of factors in a person’s life. The first is lifestyle. A person’s living space, resources, environment, neighbors, these all have a great impact on what an individual will take in and process for reapplication in the pursuit of further success in everyday life. For instance, someone who lives in seclusion will have less social skills than someone in a bustling city, because they don’t need to learn advanced communication techniques. Someone who lives in a house that is consistently breaking but tries to fix it will learn different things when compared to someone who decides to look for the best people to fix the house for them. These are very simple examples, so when considering the sheer magnitude of potential differences in each person’s life, it simply makes sense that people learn different things at various times. Yes, most of us start the same, but that is like how every form of education is, it creates a foundation that allows for development in an area of our choosing to get through life. We build and improve skills every day to make our lives easier. Why would we learn something that doesn’t help?The next aspect of learning is similar to lifestyle, it is exposure. How it is different is sometimes, you don’t need it, it is simply presented for you to learn. Many schools do this, where they require in mandatory electives for completion of a certain course, and while you may not necessarily like it, you now have a basis for the skill and basic knowledge.

A larger cause for the desire to learn comes from the changing of an individual. People change every day, their perspectives are warped, their opinions shift, their entire mindset on the entire world could change just like that. A single instant. As I said previously, learning is to also follow passions and follow a path towards increased self discovery through being able to actively and physically apply those thoughts in various new activities and information. Why people change could be for a variety of reasons, and could happen at any time in the world. We are raised to follow our passions, but passions change. The more significant factor is that they are trying to learn more, regardless of what stage they are in life.

With all this now in mind, I would like to return to the video I had mentioned previously. There is a multitude of reasons on why this creator had the question she had, while those who commented already had the answer. Maybe in her life, she never had to learn it, and now she was simply wondering. Perhaps she had never been exposed to information regarding the topic. It could be that maybe, she finally figured out something she was interested in and posed a question in hopes of attracting more experienced individuals in the same field to guide her. And instead she was mocked. Maybe it is not as big of a deal as I am making it seem, I understand that in life people will need to learn to take criticism. However, I wasn’t a fan of how she was treated as if she should have known, as if it was a joke that she was new to the topic. Shouldn’t the focus be that she wanted to learn, they she was trying to? Aren’t those creative explorers the best of humanity?

Not only this, but I was brought to the thought of wondering how she felt. How would you expect someone to feel when they are learning something and are insulted for it? It doesn’t make any sense for an adult approach a second grader on why they have yet to grasp multiplication, especially if it is their first time doing so. If we as a society consistently chastise those who are learning, how many of them will want to continue to do so afterwards? How many people really want to do something when the only result is an overwhelming load of negativity?

I never found an answer to my question. I have yet to understand why she was so attacked for not knowing a small, fact of knowledge. I feel somewhat lucky my life has never presented a situation where bringing others down in part of my permanent mindset. But to anyone who is afraid of judgement for being too late, fear of judgement of not being born or raised to know a certain topic of information, I hope this finds you. And I hope you understand that there will always be people who will find something to criticize, and I hope you see how little it means. The larger, more vital point is to never be afraid of learning. It isn’t important when you learned the information, all that matters is you know now. After all, it is undeniable that learning is a fundamental skill in the process of life. To not learn something new each day, regardless of what or when you find out, would be cheating yourself of the possibilities in life.