Read, Iqra, Yomu…
I saw this on Twitter the other day;
Then I finished the final season of The Blacklist. You’re probably wondering, “What’s the correlation?” Raymond Reddington is an interesting character in numerous ways, but what always intrigues me is how knowledgeable he is. You could give him a book, and he’ll give you a detailed history of the author. The vast amount of knowledge that he possesses is invaluable.
It got me thinking (Hassanat thinks a lot. I know!) about how much knowledge is out there that we don’t know about. This is not a problem of access because anything can be found on the internet. It’s more of an “interest” thing. Something I’ve noticed is that, in this part of the world where I live, it’s not really valued to know “extra” things. Give an example of a lecturer in uni: If you decide to go out of your way to learn something additional for a topic in class, the lecturer might see it as a challenge instead of a learning opportunity. How exactly do you build interest from that?
A lot of personal conviction is needed to build interest when it seems like it won’t really matter, but this mentality needs to die. Getting some work experience has changed my perspective on knowledge. That topic that you feel might not really matter could be a conversation starter with a colleague or even get you out of a binder. My point is to inculcate continued learning.
If we don’t learn, what’s really our use as human beings? We’re meant to spread knowledge in any capacity that we can, and how can we share knowledge when we don’t have it? Adding to what I said earlier about the internet, it’s a double-edged sword. There’s so much misinformation going on there, but also, with the vast amount of information on the internet, it’s almost a choice to be misinformed. You can fact-check with just a few clicks, talk to subject matter experts, etc. Just read!
Slipping into the work-sleep routine is very easy but understandable. Life is very stressful. It is hard to make enough time for yourself, let alone to read. Now, I’m not saying you should read 5 novels in 2 weeks. Your reading can be as little as finding out a little bit more about a topic that piqued your interest. One of the essences of life is to find out things, explore, and live through knowing.
Don’t let your intellect be caged.
