Something Painful

I'm puzzled by the relentless clichés one hears about the fun of learning. At that stage of life when first exploring the world largely through play there's plenty of evidence of enjoyment. But even then any perceptive observer of small kids will be aware of the moments of inevitable pain that accompany those unavoidable moments of discovery that the world is not always an accommodating place.

But later? Real learning is often characterised by a need to re-draw our mental models of the world and such challenges are frequently disconcerting, even if, for some of us, there's a thrill in discovering we were wrong all along. Whenever anyone claims they're a lifelong learner look for signs of the stress that comes with really thinking deeply about things. If you don't see them, chances are the claimant is splendidly deceiving himself.