3 Reasons Why Only a Dummy is Too Smart to Keep Learning

While surfing the web, I found the most profound saying online about learning: “Don't Stop Learning-You’re Not As Smart As You Think You Are”, which is a blog post by Adam Donyes and Brian Wang. This post is featured on their blog site “The Lid, A Collaboration for Change” where they begin with:

“For the first 18 years of our lives, make that 22 if you go to college, we read and take tests. We learn stuff we like, and other material we hate, but we learn the material because we are told we need to in order to succeed. Then we complete college. No more tests, just deadlines and paychecks accompanied with television and movies. We figure we no longer need to read if no one or no test is holding us accountable, and for the vast majority of college grads we stop learning. We shouldn’t, we should be life long learners if we desire to have life long impact. So as we look at week 12 of ”What Do You Wish You Knew Then That You Know Now.” We look at, Don’t Stop Learning-You’re Not As Smart As You Think.”

Adam and Brian refer to a blog series written by Michael Hyatt entitled, “What Do You Wish You Knew Then That You Know Now”, which is very similar to their post. It talks about the struggle we all go through just trying to memorize what we can so we can graduate from high school. We do all of this learning, only to continue it when we get to college. We learn what the school administrators insist we will need to know to success in life. Then, after graduation, we are relieved to no longer be bombarded with textbooks and texts as we start our new careers. We just simply make the choice to stop learning. But, according to these blog authors, everyone who wants to have life long success must continue to be open to learning new things for the rest of their lives.

3 Reasons to Keep Learning Knew Things

Here are three reasons why Adam and Brian believe that you have to be a dummy to think you're too smart to continuously learn new things:

1. Relevance

• Jesus had such a major impact on civilization because he made it a point to study. He knew it well. This gave Him the ability to come up with parables that anyone and everyone could relate to. His parables were full of mind impacting examples, letting people know that He was wise about life.
• We must continue to learn throughout the course of our entire lives. This helps us to stay relevant in a society that's continuously changing. Staying relevant means more people will engage with us, allowing us to have an impact on their lives and their cultures. Otherwise, we become irrelevant, meaning we are of no use to the society we live in.

2. Stay Sharp

• Continuously learning allows us to continuously grow. This continuous growth keeps us sharp and keen in many different areas. When we choose not to learn, we choose to become dull and boring. We no longer live up to our full potential. Romans 12:2 says: “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is , His good, pleasing , and perfect will.”
  
• A sharp knife will always have more of a positive effect than a dull one. This is the same for humans. Sharper college students are more effective, believing they have the knowledge and power they need to conquer the world (like Pinky and the Brain). Then, when they get jobs and become bored with not learning knew things, they're motivation levels drop. That's because they were only sharp when they were in a learning environment. After leaving school, it's up to them to create their own.

3. Guidance Through Life
   

When we have important, hard decisions that need to be made, it's our education that helps us make the right ones. We are educated in many ways, including learning from the mistakes of the past. Without learning about these mistakes, we are “doomed to repeat the past”, like those who choose not to learn about the past. We must allow God to guide us and teach us continually. He will guide us by teaching us what we need to know to walk in the path He has planned for us. “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance,”... Proverbs 1:5

Whether we choose to learn from our spiritual beliefs, our past mistakes, mistakes others made in their pasts, textbooks, teachers or whatever, we are giving ourselves a lifelong gift. Learning knew things, languages, technologies, etc... will keep us relevant in the world we live in. As adults, it's our responsibility to put ourselves in environments that continue to teach us. We must also be open to learning something new everyday, because only a dummy is too smart to keep learning.

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