I grew up associating intelligence with one's ability to "absorb material like a sponge". It wasn't until now, however, that I noticed a flaw in this argument. For, even the greatest sponges are wrung dry, losing everything they once possessed. So, if I only focus on consuming knowledge, will I be wrung dry as well?
Don't get me wrong, I love learning... I even subscribed to nytimes.com to motivate myself to stay updated with current events around the world! But, I feel as if I personally come up short each time I explore a new subject of interest. Even in school, I tend to gloss over the material, memorize it the night before the test, spew out what I remember on testing day, and forget it until it shows up on another exam.
One day an intellectual descended from the hills of Ithaca pointed out this problem to me. He stressed that students today should not only be focused on "learning" for grades, but also learning how to learn. As I sit here, reading up on countless stories for my comparative government/politics class, his words continue to ring inside my head. Sure, I find the articles interesting, but I have yet to actually delve into the different topics, exploring different opinions and perspectives.
When it comes to this, I'd much rather place the blame my procrastination as opposed to any sort of apathy. I hate feeling as if I don't care, because I know that I actually do. I love being informed and aware... and having opinions. In a way, that's the only thing that keeps the human race in class of it's own... we exist between animal and machine due to our abilities to think and feel.
If my argument above suggests that humans act on practicality like machines and instinct like animals,
then why do I lack both?
Endlessly working for the next five days to finish summer assignments that were assigned months ago,
Karen
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