Becoming brighter

The body of collective human knowledge is impossibly vast and cannot be mastered in one lifetime.

That doesn’t mean we don’t bother to learn stuff. But we have to freely acknowledge to kids that there is no possible way to know everything. Otherwise, we create the illusion that they are learning everything they need to know in school.

So how do we approach learning without getting overwhelmed?

Imagine that you are in complete darkness. You light a candle, and then you can see that there are several other candles around you. You use the first candle to light another candle. Now you are able to see a little farther, and you can see more candles. You continue lighting them.

With each candle you light, you are able to see still more. In fact, the more candles you light, the more you can see, stretching infinitely in all directions. And as you light more candles, you are creating more light, so you can see farther without having to even venture from your spot.

Thus it is with knowledge. The lit candles represent the knowledge we have, and the unlit candles represent the knowledge that’s out there. The more we learn, the more we see that it is possible to learn — and the easier it becomes to acquire this new knowledge.

The point is not to light all the candles — there is an infinite number of candles. Instead, we appreciate the light we have and enjoy the process of lighting new ones. This ls what it means to learn.