Really the title of this article is all that needs to be said, but I can dive in a bit more.
Do you ever really listen to music and the messages conveyed in the lyrics? Or do you just bop your head to the beat?
Do you ever see the lessons presented in books/movies/TV shows? Or do you just see them as fun stories that you take part in as an escape?
When you interact with someone different than yourself do you see them as a beautiful source of knowledge/experiences different than your own? Or how do you choose to look at them?
The universe doesn’t speak in words, it’s too good for that and it wouldn’t be fun if it did anyway, it would give it away all the secrets too easily and nobody would learn anything.
Think of the universe as a teacher, and you its student.
Do you know who real teachers impart their knowledge to?
Can you guess? Take a second and think about it………………… Did you do it or are you just reading? I want to see if you can come up with the right answer so if you don’t have an answer then again, please take a moment and try to think of something………………………………………………………………… Well how about now? Oh one more time? Ok sure…………………. Do you have it now? I’m going ahead now so if you haven’t thought about it by now, why not? Are you really that disinterested in stretching your brain and playing the game? Or perhaps you know that I’m going to give you the answer regardless? I really hope it’s the latter. If it’s the former then I hope you’re ok, get some water or food if you’re feeling bad, sometimes we don’t realize what exactly is making us cranky (not to say you’re cranky, but it is a possibility). Alright alright, let’s get to the point here.
Real teachers impart their knowledge upon GOOD students. Notice I made sure to include the word “good” there not only that, but I chose to capitalize it to stress the importance of that particular word. Teachers share knowledge with all of their students, sure, that’s their job. However, they do not share their real knowledge to just any student, they only share their knowledge with the GOOD students.
What makes a good student? (Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to play a game this time) There are a bunch of things that make a good student! Really the list is quite long and while I’m not so bad at writing things for a very long time, I’d like to save myself from getting arthritis that early and just present the three most important factors in being a good student.
The three most important factors in being a good student
- Being a good listener
- Being a good thinker
- Asking good questions
Pretty simple really– eh? You would think it would be that simple, however if it really were that simple I don’t think we would have as many people with as bad incomplete picture of the world as it stands today.
Good listening
People don’t listen these days, and that’s a fact. Their ears are closed to the world around them, should anything come along that isn’t in-line with their way of thinking they are quick to dismiss it. This is the incorrect course of action.
The correct course of action would be to listen to everything that that person is trying to convey to them. Even if you don’t agree, you cannot begin to stay that you understand/know better if you only have a singular part of the picture, this is what our teachers as kids taught us and this is a lesson that some of us have forgotten. If you really want to have a discussion or sway someone back to the “correct” path, you need to listen to everything they have to say first– even if it’s just to prove them wrong/correct them, listen to all that they say.
Give them the respect of listening to them and they will give you the same or even greater respect because there are few that do actually do them the honor of listening to them.
And I mean REALLY listening.
Not being off somewhere in your head…
Not just waiting for the conversation to be over…
To be a good student is to be a good listener.
Good thinking
People don’t think these days either, they’re too simple. They don’t play with their creativity, they don’t play with thoughts, they don’t allow their brain to go out and explore where it will, to the rainbows and sunshine. These people don’t allow themselves their imagination, they don’t see the possibilities, and they can’t take the ideas that they’re given and elaborate on them more.
If they don’t think, then they also don’t experiment. They never use the words “I wonder” or “I’m curious to know” and if they don’t use those, they sure as hell don’t say “let’s find out”. All of these words facilitate a greater thinking and develop a good brain. Anyone who doesn’t use these words keeps themselves in a box, never to leave it and discover what the world has in-store for them or seeking out more pieces of their knowledge infer towards different/greater things.
The people who do use the words, “I wonder,” or , “I’m curious to know”, go find out!
Most of you are consuming this content on some sort of electronic device. You do realize that has.. pretty much.. the entirety of human knowledge as it stands right? or at least 80% I would say.
The good thinkers say, “let’s find out!” and they use their resources to go find out. Because when they find out, they learn something– and doesn’t everyone love to learn?
When you learn, you get better.
To be a good student is to be a good thinker.
Asking good questions
I may have listed this last, but this trait is just as important as the other two traits. If all of the traits were not equal in their own right I would say that this trait is the most important. However, without allowing oneself to listen or think, one may never ask a question that is actually beneficial to themselves. You must have the other two traits on some level to have this trait.
Once one listens and thinks long enough, naturally they reach the end of their knowledge and thus questions sprout up in their brain. There are many ways to solve these questions– you could meditate longer, read a book/utilize your resources, and/or consult someone that possesses the proper experience.
As a child, it is typically the last option that one utilizes the most, a.k.a. asking the teacher. A real teacher would see this inquisitiveness and encourage it. However, they would encourage it, they would not just hand the knowledge to the student. It’s perfectly possible that a question arose quite naturally without a deeper level of thinking and as a teacher, we wouldn’t want to encourage that– or we wouldn’t want to squash the drips of inquiry/curiosity, as a teacher we would want to encourage them to flow.
So when/if a student asks us a question we do not merely hand them the answer, we respond in kind with a question “What do you think?”, “Where do you think you could find more information to come to a conclusion?”, “What makes you ask that?”, “Knowing what we know about, X, Y, and Z… can you think a little harder about what the answer could be?”. There are a variety of options to choose from beyond these as well.
This is only the proper way to go about it as any real teacher knows, at least it’s the proper way to go about it if they truly care about the development of their kids. Encourage thinking, help them on their way but don’t just give them the answer. After all, they won’t value it if it’s just handed to them. We see this all the time in life, people usually don’t value things that they’re given for free. But people sure value things that they find/unearth on their own.
“Teach a man to fish…” as the old saying goes. Should you give someone a fish rather than teach them how to fish, then they will become dependent on you rather than putting in the work themselves. Instead of learning how to feed themselves, all they’ve learned is that you will give them fish.. and you can bet that they’ll be back for more. For as another saying goes “When you give a mouse a cookie, they’re going to ask for a glass of milk…“
To be a good student is to ask good questions
The true value in asking question lies in the word “question” itself.
Do you see it yet, I’ll give you a second. There’s really not much room for the secret to hide. Find it? Ok well, I’m gonna spill the beans and if you don’t see it then this is what would be called a “facepalm”moment.
“Quest” is in the word question. Hmmmm well what could that possibly mean? I won’t play anymore games with you as you’ve read this far without clicking off so I will reward you for making it this far.
It means when you ask a question, you start on a journey, a journey to find your destination a.k.a. — an answer. There are many ways to get there, and there are many obstacles that may stand in your way, but so long as you are persistent you will arrive at your destination (likely knowing more than you set out to know initially).
There are plenty of ways to set out here, and there are plenty of people/things that possess the knowledge that you desire. However, not all of them will help you.
YOU asked the question after all, so it is YOUR quest. YOU are the one with desires and NOBODY else is under the obligation to help you. Sure there may be those willing to help based on knowing you or their own inclinations of being a good person but YOU are the one on the quest, it is only and always YOUR prerogative. If you would like to reach your destination/answer (usually in a timely manner) then you must follow it or seek it out.
Here, I shall give you a hint that will hopefully produce some greater thinking and pondering within yourself.
Hint: How do you know that the answers you currently hold are the best ones? How do you know that greater/deeper answers don’t exist further out there in the fold? Did you merely catch the first answer you came across that seemed acceptable? Or did you search high and wide and decide based on comparing all possible answers?
Have you ever questioned yourself and your knowledge? If you don’t, why not? Why couldn’t there be something more beyond what you see and beyond what you know? Isn’t there plenty out there that falls into this category? You know our knowledge increases every day right? When was the last time you looked at the known edge of human knowledge to even just consider the possibilities? Maybe it’s time to look again and either reevaluate/reaffirm what it is you know? Are you pigeon-holed in one area of knowledge or are you constantly learning more?
What does all this have to do with the secrets of the universe?
Ah yes yes, I should probably circle back to the title of the article and tie it all back in.
In the beginning I said that the universe is your teacher and you are its student. I also said all of the traits that make a truly good student. What can you infer from that? Anything? If not, take all the time you need to think about it, there is no rush and I guarantee you will eventually see it.
It’s possible that you think the universe is some dead/unthinking thing and I’m preaching “new-agey bullshit”, if that’s the case then you may replace “the universe” with the world and the organisms therein. Though I would say that that’s very short sighted to think that the universe didn’t have anything to teach us– if that was the case then why would astronomy and astrophysics exist?
I will give you one breadcrumb, the very fact that the universe is giving us these things means that none of this is a “secret”. That all of the knowledge it is imparting onto us is right in-front of our faces, just like how a book holds secrets when it is closed but all you need to do to obtain them is to open it. (Well not just open it usually, you also have to read, know the definition of words, know adjacent subjects, be able to understand the subjects, read between the lines, and much more…)
The “secrets” of the universe are right in front of you if you merely open your eyes to see, open your ears to hear, open your mind to learn, possess a desire to learn and an open heart with the humbleness that you likely don’t know anything about the world.
I say again though, the universe doesn’t spell it out for you or speak it, the universe “waves“. You will have to really listen and be observant to properly see it. Have you listened enough? Are you open minded enough? Are you looking out and ready to learn? Perhaps not. But if you keep trying, I guarantee that you will see it one day, when you are truly ready. It takes some people 30 seconds, it takes others 30 years– be patient.
You only fail when you stop trying. So never stop trying.
All the best,
FCP 🙃
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