As I’ve noted here before, I’ve recently become obsessed with the sense of smell — which has been an interesting experience, for several reasons.
One reason: this obsession has reminded me about the nature of learning. I’ve been struck by how much I’ve learned in the last few weeks. I went from knowing almost nothing about the scent of smell to knowing… well, quite a bit more. And without any effort, any drilling, any assignments on my part. Quite the contrary. I’m gulping down books, jumping around websites, eager to learn more, more, more.
The same thing happened when I was working on my Churchill biography. In college, I’d taken classes that covered World War II, and I had to force myself to do the reading, and I struggled to memorize the facts. But through the lens of my limitless fascination with Churchill, I couldn’t get enough of these materials, and I remembered facts easily.
And what’s strange — for me, at least — is that this interest clicks in so suddenly.
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I quite agree, interest plays a huge part in making learning effortless. No matter how hard I tried in my math classes, it seemed I was doomed to fail, as I never really paid any attention and just all out given up without even trying. But when it came to classes such as Philosophy, I was so keen on learning that people were a bit surprised that I’m skating by while most were not.
I absolutely agree with you. I am a fairly good student myself and excel in most subjects (minus history uggh). I love to learn. Learning new things is a passion for me and I think that is why I always did so good in school. However, psychology and sociology are the areas I super excel at. Partially cause I have lived a lot of it and have already read a lot on my leisure time. The desire to learn is key and essential to succeeding or at least to doing so easier!
Too true! For the past year or so, I’ve been intensely interested in Education and descriptive statistics. Friends have stared when I spout numbers and articles from memory constantly. This would probably not be possible for things I have no interest in.