Today's Learning is Definitely NOT Old School!
Remember laughing at your parents because they couldn't stop the clock light from blinking on their VCR, let alone try to watch a program on the darned thing without going through five pages of hold-my-hand instructions?
You remember VCR's? Look in the mirror, Bud! You're getting old... and FAST!
It is literally impossible NOT to learn in today's world. You HAVE to learn just to keep up, you have no other choice. The world we live in today is SO different than the one we experienced even 10 short years ago.
Hopefully, you're not still thinking that learning comes exclusively through institutionalized education. We live in an age where information - virtually ANY information - is available at your fingertips, not only through your computer but through your phone and other amazing devices that were nothing more than the stuff of science fiction from our youth. Think of all you had to learn just to work all those fancy gadgets!
Learning Isn't 'Just the Facts Ma'am' Anymore
Back in the early 1970's when I was matriculating for my Bachelor of Music Education degree, I had to spend what to me was a small fortune since I worked my own way through college. For this I got the privilege of sitting through hours of boring lectures and sifting through horrendously dull tomes not only in my own major subject, but other subjects in which I had absolutely NO interest because... well, just BECAUSE it was required that I take those additional courses if I wanted to EARN my degree and graduate.
Today, all those same 'facts' and information that used to cost so much in terms of money and time now are readily available online for FREE! As a result, institutionalized education is being forced to change with the times from being a repository of 'facts' to providing stimulation for creativity and expansion through experiential learning. You simply can't get by in today's world just by 'knowing' stuff. Anyone can 'know' stuff. You make your way in today's world by what you DO!
A Medical Degree in Three Weeks!
OK, that heading may be a bit of a stretch. However, last year when I was in the hospital fighting for my life, my wife Maggie would ask the doctors and nurses all kinds of questions during visiting hours. Then she would go home and spend a couple hours during the evening Googling all the conditions and terms she picked up earlier. The next day she returned armed with pages of notes and better questions. At a certain point, she felt my primary doctor was tap-dancing around some critical issues. As a result we sought a second opinion and ended up switching to another care giver where I have been able to make a rather remarkable recovery.
Compare this to twenty short years ago when the doctor would give a prognosis and patients would blindly accept it as their fate! Now because of the information age, people are taking back personal responsibility for their own destinies.
No More Excuses
What would you like to do with your life? With virtually all barriers removed from access to information, you really have no excuse not to become anything you could ever dream of becoming! The 'knowing' part is right there for the taking. It's what you do with what you know and who you become in the process. True living is making the most of yourself. You're gonna Love That Feeling.
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