You should begin a dialogue by asking rather than telling
How You Can You Be A Curious Learner
How to strengthen your curiosity muscle — fuel for purposeful learning
If you are curious — the value of outdoor recreation
Bob Marshall, co-founder of The Wilderness Society has said it best: “The coincidental fact that people have to pay to enter the cinema and usually don’t have to pay to enter the forest does not mean that outdoor recreation is less valuable”. [Source 1]
I feel that it would be an injustice not to be able to reflect upon his exact words concerning the incalculable values of forest recreation, so I am taking the liberty to share the following with you dear reader:
“It seems distinctly an understatement to hold that each all-day visitor to the forest derives as much pleasure from it as he would derive from a 2-hour motion-picture show. I have estimated that in the United States approximately 250 million man-days a year are devoted to forest recreation. If the admission price to a movie averages 25 cents, this gives the annual American forest recreation a value of $62,500,000. This is the minimum that people probably would pay for the privilege of using the forest if the price were asked. The incidental fact that people have to pay for admission to the movies and do not usually have to pay for admission to the forests does not mean that the outdoor recreation is any less valuable.”
-Bob Marshall (Co-founder of the Wilderness Society), from The People’s Forests by Robert Marshall, published originally in 1933, taken from the current edition published by University of Iowa Press, 2003 [Source 1]
The fuel for purposeful learning — the “curiosity journey” begins with your asking and not telling
Intentional learners are attached to tangible goals so they can use curiosity as an effective tool rather than a source of distraction. A growth mindset and active curiosity are the fuel for purposeful learning. [Sources: 1, 3]
Feed your curiosity — unlocking intentionality
People who have mastered the mindset and effective learning skills can grow faster than their peers and benefit more from all the learning opportunities that are presented to them. Backed by research and years of experience as talent and learning professionals, McKinsey & Company in source 3 explores effective students’ core attitudes and skills.
Become an agent of change — not just a hero or legend
When people are educated and learn to use the power of words effectively, they become agents of change and not just heroes and legends. We must all understand that education is a lifelong commitment and that no one should ever stop learning or teaching.
[Sources: 0, 3]
I shall share the three practices shortly that McKinsey & Company state will strengthen your curiosity muscle. Indeed they tell us that research has shown that curiosity matters for three reasons:
* Inspiration is strongly correlated with an intrinsic desire to learn — curiosity sparks inspiration.
* Curiosity marks the beginning of a virtuous cycle that fuels one’s ability to live life as a self-directed learner.
* Research demonstrates that curiosity does not decrease with age — it will serve you well at any stage in your career, and of course, your life.
They offer these practices to strengthen your curiosity muscle:
* Face your fears.
* Seek novel experiences and ideas.
* Focus on what you love — follow your bliss.
[Source: 2]
Therefore, all we need to do now is to teach the most important knowledge and information that every person needs. Howard Polley (Source 0) shares that when he is asked “So do you think you could really save the world?”
He says “No, I don’t think I could save the world, I think better education could save the world….. It will actually be educated people who will save the world. People can learn, it’s just that sometimes people only want to learn when they feel it’s personally appropriate or perceived as important….All you have to do is look at all the mistakes people make to see that education is not perfect”. [Sources: 0]
So, you must create good teaching methods so that you can get a higher education. You need highly qualified teachers who use advanced technological tools to help teach each student effectively and productively at the highest possible level, which can then be replicated like a vaccine.
Still curious? — listen to the trees and stones
Trees and stones will teach you things that you will never learn from the masters. [Sources: 0, 1]
And the people who love and understand it are the people who own it — for a while. Black Elk, perhaps a truly enlightened soul, who possessed that rare wisdom that is sadly MIA in today’s modern era of high tech and a fast-paced lifestyle, most eloquently sums up what we should strive for (i.e., becoming “enlightened” and yes, even “illuminated”) during our lifetime:
“Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy…”.
- Black Elk (Medicine man of the Lakota (Sioux)[Source: 1]
Thank you for reading! My thanks to @DrMehmetYildiz for kindly publishing my blog post! Please share your sentiment in the comments section. Thank you!
The Sources List is at the very bottom of my blog post! Enjoy!
Full Disclosure: This link will take you offsite — outside of Medium:
Like my awesomeness? Please — would you buy me a Ko-fi
Thanks for reading! If you liked my article, subscribe to Medium to get more articles that I publish regularly!
Free or $5/month: Check out Medium — a social media platform venue for freelance writers like me
If you want to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s $5/month, giving you unlimited access to stories on Medium. If you sign up using my link, I’ll earn a small commission.
Join Medium with my referral link:
Get an email whenever Patrick OConnell publishes:
You can find me on LinkedIn (ID: azpat0)
Check out my other stories on my Medium Profile page if you like my article!
I am a freelance writer- available to write YOUR blog posts or articles -
Samples of my work are on my Medium Profile page:
And also on my website -
Full Disclosure — This link will take you offsite outside of Medium:
I also publish a weekly newsletter on Substack: The Market Algo Newsletter — It forecasts the direction of the S&P 500 market — index for the upcoming week -
Full Disclosure — This link will take you offsite outside of Medium:
Sources
[0]: https://www.basicknowledge101.com/subjects/educationquotes.html
[1]: https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/quotes.php
[2]: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/may2019/forest-school
[4]: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introliterature/chapter/walden-by-henry-david-thoreau/
[5]: https://www.longwood.edu/staff/mcgeecw/sampleresponsepapers.htm