THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING

Introduction:

Learning is an aspect of life that can never be underestimated. Each person is defined by the knowledge he/she has and what he/she believe; a product of what is learnt and what is not learnt. No one is born with knowledge, we all are products of certain ideologies which we learn and accept as true, whether in religion or in tradition.

Everyone is a product of what he/she chooses to learn and accept as true, thus it is very vital we learn the right things and verify if they are right.

What is learning?

Learning is an act in which something is learned. It is derived from the word “learn” which according to English Dictionary means: “to acquire or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something.” This proves true, because most of the things we do in life that defined our personalities are learnt either from our own experiences, that of others, in school, in religion, in tradition or in cultures. It is no gain saying to say we all are a product of what we learn.

The day you stop learning, you start dying, so, they say, but there are a lot of people who have actually started dying without knowing it. I mean, they think they are learning when they are actually looking for support for what they already believe as true.

This is common in religion, education, tradition and cultures. These are beliefs that are thought to be right, people believe them and see no need to find out their authenticity, especially because they are said to be most times connected them to certain deities.

The differences between indoctrination, bigotry and learning:

Though learning is good, learning from the wrong source or the wrong things is highly detrimental. Unwillingness to continue to learn, especially when they contradict what we already believe as true is a product of indoctrination and bigotry, that’s way different from learning.  This is especially true about religion and education. These two beliefs that define people’s lives are most times mere indoctrinations.

Most people will fight with the last drop of their blood to defend their religious beliefs, betting their lives on how true those beliefs are even though they are not sure. Any questions that tend to unravel the faults in these beliefs are termed disrespect to them and any teaching that goes directly against them are termed heresy.

Some religion can go as far as killing, because their religion orders so; they also believe it is the way to please their God, for whom the religion was created.

Some will parade themselves as the chosen generation, without finding out how true those claims are.

Indoctrination in religion is the most effective antagonist to learning and exceptional intelligence. People are born into certain religions and are made to believe they are on the right paths, they do not care to crosscheck; they go ahead and proclaim the authenticity of such belief without wanting to learn from other sources. This is not learning it is pure bigotry; it has led and will still lead to the destruction of many people. There is no illness that is worse than unwillingness to learn and anything you learn and you are told considering others are taboos, is mere indoctrination and could be detrimental.

Convictions for bigotry:

Some people make you believe they need advice, but they don't actually need advice, they only want you to support what they already have in their minds as the truth. If you say anything different from what they want to hear, then you have not made any sense to them. I have met these set of people on countless occasions and I can tell you, just about everyone around the world does that in one way or the other.

These set of people might come to you, seeming bewildered, but if your advice contradicts the things they subconsciously nurture, presumed are right and expected you to say, they consider your advice false. They don't want advice, they are only on the lookout for people to support what they believe are right and with that, there is only one thing they will know: that which they already know. That is bigotry!

Looking out for conviction of certain uncritical beliefs is why most people are finding it difficult to learn new things and liberate themselves from bigotry; this is why we have a lot of profound fools around the world, who often think they are wise. They think they are wise and right, because a lot of people believe in the same thing they believe in, but multitude is not wisdom and does not make what is wrong right. Wrong is wrong, even if no one is doing the right thing.

How to Learn:

Sincere quest to learn takes for you to unlearn what you think you know first, without which learning new things will become impossible, especially if they contradict what you already know.

Unlearn what you already know; place it side by side the new things you learn and use your Knowledge of Good and Evil to discern and make the right choice.

There is no human being that does not have Knowledge of Good and Evil, thus pretending not to know what is wrong or right is no excuse.

Having the Holy Ghost in you is an added advantage, but the moment you are unwilling to unlearn, even the voice of God will sound devilish to you.

Let me give you an instance from a story in the Bible.

It was stated in the Bible that in a trance, God appeared to Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ and told him to eat certain food which according to the law was forbidden. Peter argued with God and held on to the law until God had to rebuke him and make him see things clearly.

Was it not God that gave Moses the Law?

Was it not the same God that told him to eat the food? 

Why was it difficult for Peter to do?

The Answer:

Peter was simply unable to unlearn the law to learn about the grace and freedom brought by Jesus Christ, who he related with on daily basis and journeyed several places together with.

Even though he was conversing with the originator of the Law, he still held on to the law and rebuked its originator.

That’s what happens when we don’t want to unlearn to learn new things.

That’s Peter who had walked with Jesus Christ on several occasions, preached the gospel and also claimed to know God.

How much more you and I, who only read the scriptures?

If he could reject the voice of God to obey the law, how sure are you that you are not doing the same?

The Limitation:

If you are unwilling to unlearn, there will always be a limit to how well you can learn.

Let me relate an experience I had:

In a WhatsApp group, Ngozi, a friend asked if it is right for a lady to ask a guy out. We all thought she needed advice, but unfortunately, she only needed support to back up her belief which is: it is wrong for ladies to ask guys out. She proved it.

JCV, a member of the group supported her belief and earned her respect, while Edwina, another member of the group became an antagonist for opposing it.

Advising her was purely useless, because she didn’t need one; instead, once she got her support, she started advising others too.  This shows she only wanted conviction for what’s on her mind; a possible bigotry.

Was she wrong? May be not, but to me, YES!

Was she right? NO!

She could only have learnt the right thing if she had listened and analyze what she was told.

The major lesson here is, for us to learn, we must be of no opinion at all. We must empty our minds to new lessons and be willing to check it if they are right. Unlearning doesn't mean you will believe what you are told; it will only help you to know the right thing.

How is this possible?

This was mentioned earlier, but I will reemphasize it.

Put aside what you think you already know, listen and accept the new one, then weigh them with your Knowledge of Good and Evil and with it, it will be easy to get the best from what you are told.

Having the Holy Ghost is always an edge, but you can subject Holy Spirit to your conscience.

You have to be able to know if your conscience was deciding for you or the Holy Ghost. Your Knowledge of Good and Evil (conscience) will always judge you based on what you feed it with as right and wrong, thus, in order to learn new things; you have to empty it first.

The new things might not be right, but emptying your conscience first will help you to further stabilize what is right.

Practical steps to learning:

Listening:  if you hate listening to people, there always will be a limitation to your knowledge. Those who rarely listen believe they know so much, they are unwilling to find out what they don’t know, and this prevent their increase in knowledge.  Make sure you listen more than you talk, except in a forum where everyone renders opinions. Be observant and study situations.

Be receptive:   to listen is the first step to being receptive. However, you can listen because you have to, yet never receive anything. Receptiveness starts with open mindedness. There is nothing as worse as a closed mind. Those with closed minds, who are unwilling to learn anything outside what they are born with or made believe to be the best, will always have a limitation to knowledge. Regardless of how much they think they know; their knowledge will always be limited to what they were told.

Research: unwillingness to research is the reason why a lot of people accept false fables as true, especially in the realm of religion. I have met a lot Christians who will never read the Quran  and vice versa and those that pick them up to read does so for the purpose of criticizing, to edify what they already believe as true, not because they want to learn. Their minds are not receptive to learning from other sources outside the one they are made to believe is right. Only a few things in life could be more dangerous than a closed mind, but almost all the religious persons do so. True learning takes proper research with the mindset of learning, not criticizing.

Crosschecking with the Knowledge of Right & Wrong: this part of human that contributes to what makes him the image of God is vital to learning, it doesn’t determine the right or wrong until you feed it with what you are told and believe is right and wrong.  It stores in it whatever you feed it with. This is the reason why you find some people doing what you call sin with so much comfort. They have fed this aspect of their being with what contradicts your beliefs thus, what looks wrong to you does not look wrong to them.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil is empty until you feed it, thus it is important you feed it with what is right as right and what is wrong as wrong. Though it is empty and has to be fed, it was built in such a way that it can recognize what is right from wrong. However, if you feed it with what is right as wrong; it will also accept it as true and keep dictating to you in accordance to what you feed it with.

In religion, most people have this aspect of them speak to them and think they are communicating with God or Holy Spirit, but it is actually their Knowledge of right & wrong that speaks to them, whenever they go against what they feed it with as right and wrong.

Thus, in order to learn, one have to empty the this part of being, which is the same as unlearning, then listen and accept the new one, place it side by side by the old one, crosscheck  with this part of their being (Knowledge of right & wrong) and leave it to decide without interference of your opinion. Be of no opinion at all. Remember, despite it is empty, it was built to be able to recognize right and wrong as God sees it. This could be going against a lot of religious doctrines and laws, but you have to trust it, without which you will always have limited knowledge of God and of right and wrong.

                                                       

Apply this science; it is the sailing secret of the world’s wisest man.

Lecture delivered by Soul’e Rhymez

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