I have stated on more than one occasion that my wife is the Queen of Trivia. When it comes to playing the board game Trivia Pursuit (any of the versions) or playing Jeopardy or Who Wants to be a Millionaire on television she’s hard to beat. She, on the other hand, is always saying that we would be an unbeatable team if we could go on these shows as a team because the areas of knowledge that she’s weak in I’m strong in. When it comes to math, science, and technology, I can whip out the answers without a moment’s hesitation just as she can when it comes to the liberal arts subjects. We watch these shows faithfully everyday which amounts to one and one-half hours of Jeopardy and one hour of Who Wants to be a Millionaire five nights a week.
Last night as we watched Who Wants to be a Millionaire I got t thinking about something that Chris Lytle, the author of The Accidental Salesman, said. Chris said, “Life is a seminar, and lifelong learners get more out of life. What lessons will you learn today? Who will your teachers be? You never know. Just be open to learning from everyone and every experience.” I have learned a great deal from my wife as well as the contestants on those shows that my wife and I watch. We are surrounded by teachers who have something of value to offer us if we are open to receiving it. Factoidz.Com is a great classroom for anyone seeking new knowledge.
I had another thought too, is there any knowledge that can be classified as trivial? Eventually we will have a use for all the knowledge we accumulate. On more than one occasion I have said that I had no interest in Philosophy but I have come to the conclusion that philosophy has something to say when it comes to science, art, religion, politics, medicine, and a host of other topics. I’m also starting to realize that the more you know about philosophy, and even just the basics of philosophy, the more likely you’ll be able to reason clearly, consistently, and with more reliable conclusions.
I have always put great emphasis on using the scientific method in my pursuit of knowledge but I never connected the scientific method with philosophy until a few days ago when I ran across a short article on the philosophy of science. The Philosophy of Science is concerned with, obviously enough, science - specifically, how science operates, what the goals of science should be, what relationship science should have with the rest of society, the differences between science and other activities, etc. Everything that happens in science has some relationship with the Philosophy of Science and is predicated upon some philosophical position, although that may be rarely evident. That realization was enough to make me want to learn more about philosophy.
My goal for the summer is to learn more about philosophy. To do that I have signed up for an online course in Philosophy 101. That course will be a true challenge for me because I have never taken any philosophy course before. As Lifelong Learners we need to challenge ourselves to learn new things everyday, so my question to you is this, what’s your challenging goal this summer? What new knowledge are you going to garner over the long hot summer? As a starting point check out AboutU.Com. AboutU has a plethora of free online courses and you’re bound to find something there that catches your interest.
