We can go through life as if on a treadmill. The same thing and then more of the same thing. A treadmill is nothing if not loyal to the same thing which may not be a bad thing if you want a very finite set of results. But, it’s not a good thing if you want to consider new things.

One thing that gives me great joy is to find a new thing about which I was formally either unaware or had only limited knowledge or experience. I think this is what small children must experience on a regular basis but adults, as consumed as we are in the regime of our lives, don’t apprehend regularly.

This happens to me when I find a brand new author that has a whole series of books that connect with me in a way that I wonder where they were before I discovered them. Interestingly, this sometimes happens when I arrive at the conclusion I will no longer find a brand new author that is as captivating as the last brand new author.

The point I’m trying to make is that it’s one of the wonderful things in life when we come across something that stretches us, pulls us forward, makes our world that much larger than it was yesterday.

I guess that’s a thing that I most like about teaching and learning. It allows us the ability to make the world that much larger (and more meaningful) than it was yesterday.

I tend to absorb a whole lot of information on a regular basis. In absorbing information, my default filter is always set to how relevant that information is to my experience and how I would translate it to anyone who cared to know it. I think that’s what teachers do.

So, to the point: I came across someone about three or four days ago about whom I may have only had the vaguest knowledge but for some reason leaped onto my radar. I’ve spent some considerable time watching his lectures on YouTube (in my spare time) and am amazed at his wisdom and discernment. What gives?

I think my point is that I find joy in being stretched. Some would say I’ve learned a lot. Perhaps that is true. But, I find great joy in coming across someone who has a far more developed understanding of reality than I and who possesses the ability to communicate it clearly and with the kind of character that makes their understanding not just reasonable but likely true.

One of the greatest problems we face these days is how to filter information. How to discern what is true or not. We are increasingly drawn into a thing now commonly referred to as “echo chambers” which are kind of like closed feedback loops that only reinforce things we’ve already assumed to be true. Now, on the one hand that’s not entirely bad: If we are confronted with information that defies what substantiates our conception of reality, we ought to be at least somewhat careful. On the other hand, if we only grasp on to the same story, without considering nuance or refusing to listen to or dialogue with others of different views, we make ourselves kind of a prison.

This is more and more commonplace. Times ten. While I appreciate looking at things that are contradictory to my apprehension of reality, what brings me true joy is coming across something that connects with my experience but significantly expands my ability to contextualize that experience. Isn’t that true for all of us?

So, I am like a kid in the candy shop, absorbing knowledge and using it to examine the things that I believe are worthy of examination. Having said that, I recognize that examined knowledge is just so much fluff without application and my job is to both learn and apply. At least that’s what I believe is my job as both teacher and student.