110. Lifelong Learning Lessons
Stay curious, stay alive.
It’s safe to say that I know a lot of really useless stuff.
I know that it takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for the sun’s light to reach the earth. A fact that only seems valuable if we get an immediate phone alert when the sun blows up.
I know that there is no number that is spelled with the letter “a” until you reach one thousand.
I know that the guy who invented Pringles is buried in a Pringles can and the guy who owned the Segway company died in a Segway accident.
I know that the time showing on watches and clocks in advertisements is usually 10:10.
I know that Frank Epperson invented the Epsicle when he was 11 years old. When he grew older and had a family, his kids called it “Pop’s sicle”, which is pretty much the name of the item that Frank then trademarked in 1923.
As it turns out I know some useful stuff too. None of which comes to mind at the present time.
Incessant Learning
I read incessantly. I suppose it began as a kid. I’d stand in the shower reading every direction and ingredient on the shampoo and conditioner containers. I’d sit at the kitchen table eating breakfast while I read every single word on the cereal box, over and again. I’d buy a CD and read all of the liner notes and every single lyric.
If there are words written, I want to read them. I suppose there’s always the hope that, somewhere in that reading, I will learn something new.
I love learning.
One of my happy places is the library. Any library. I am still in awe, when I walk into a library, that all that knowledge, all that information, all those miraculously invented worlds, are available for anybody to explore anytime you want. All for free!
As of this writing, I’ve already read 53 books this year and am on track to read somewhere between 70 and 80.
As I said, I love learning.
The Curious Secret To Longevity
The brain is a muscle and exercising that muscle is just as important for health and well-being as exercising any of your other muscles.
In fact, in a study of 1,118 older people, it was found that curiosity is associated with maintaining the health of the aging central nervous system. People who were more curious lived longer.
Similarly, a British study based on the lives of 600,000 people concluded that "lifelong learning" was one of seven factors that led to greater longevity.
And Harvard research revealed that more educated people tend to live 1.6 years longer than their less educated counterparts.
If there’s anything you learned from this, I hope it’s that you should keep learning. Stay curious. Always ask why.