Learning How To Learn

A passage from Thomas Friedman in The World Is Flat, speaking about how children should go upon preparing for a job in the ever-changing future:

Go around to your friends and ask them just one question: 'Who are your favorite teachers?' Then make a list of those teachers and go out and take their courses--no matter what they are teaching, no matter what the subject. It doesn't matter whether they are teaching Greek mythology, calculus, art history, or American literature--take their courses. Because when I think back on my favorite teachers, I don't remember the specifics of what they taught me, but I sure remember being excited about learning it. What has stayed with me are not the facts they imparted but the excitement about learning they inspired. To learn how to learn, you have to love learning--or you have to at least enjoy it--because so much learning is about being motivated to teach yourself. And while it seems that some people are just born with that motivation, many others can develop it or have it implanted with the right teacher (or parent).

I have been saying something to this extent for a while now. If you don't love to learn, then you can't expand your mind. There are things out there that you don't know you enjoy until you try them. You have to find the motivation to learn so you can continue this expansion.

I have been pleasantly surprised, in my time at Hofstra University, to find enjoyment in classes such as Anthropology, Modern Art, and Age of Metropolis (a comparative literature class). My favorite professor was not from one of my major classes (business management) but from a class on classic literature. I never thought I could find interest in Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) or Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange) until I met this professor. He was so enthusiastic about his work and showed a passion that stuck with many of his students.

It is important to escape your everyday repetition and explore new things. You never know what you might find.

UPDATE: A formula from the same book: PQ + CQ > IQ or Passion and Curiosity is greater than Intellect (what you know).