<p>it feels that i've learned what i've learned in an intensely personal and connotational way. i really value what i've learned. i really value the work i've put into my learning. and what comes out of all that? death. the sudden collapse of all that one has learned. it's pathetic. why, just why, just why?</p>
<p>obviously people far smarter than me have permanently lost their storehouse of memories accumulated through hard work, all-nighters, and the like. but still, it's really just freaking sad. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>i just checked the wikipedia recent deaths article for the first time in weeks. surprisingly, no one i recognized since alex. but my computer of 6 years died a week ago. it's really sad what memories it had, what uniqueness it had, what idiosyncrasies it had on its hard drive! oh, it's sad.</p>
<p>death is the great equalizer. yet, equalizing nukes out the idiosyncrasies that makes me value who i am</p>
<p>I know how you feel IK, I've felt similarly at times. However, I do agree with this little thing mj93 said:
[quote]
Leave your legacy.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you would not like all your erudition and knowledge to go to waste, make sure to use it in a way that benefits others or leaves some lasting effect. You can live knowing that when you die, somebody else benefited, is benefiting, or will continue to benefit from your memories, knowledge and learning.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you would not like all your erudition and knowledge to go to waste, make sure to use it in a way that benefits others or leaves some lasting effect. You can live knowing that when you die, somebody else benefited, is benefiting, or will continue to benefit from your memories, knowledge and learning.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah, that's what I'd ideally like to do. It's just that I posted this since I'm really starting to appreciate how connotational and idiosyncratic one's storehouse of memories is (and the highly unique ways that one's memories are connected to each other) - and those idiosyncratic ways of storing memory are going to be permanently lost (esp. since one doesn't have a reliable way of testing the implications of how "memories connected together in some arbitrary way" can alter thought patterns and decisions). It's sad that there isn't an easy way to transfer them to paper, especially given how the brain relies highly on unconscious processing.</p>
<p>But once you die, you won't care about this stuff anymore.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Do things because they're fulfilling right now. Learn because you enjoy learning in and of itself, not because you want to die well-educated.</p>
<p>"He who dies with the most toys is still dead."</p>
<p>(Or, you know, you could devote your life to helping others learn. Or something of that nature.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Bottom line: Do things because they're fulfilling right now. Learn because you enjoy learning in and of itself, not because you want to die well-educated.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, I enjoy learning for its own sake - it's only that learning becomes REALLY rewarding once you're able to "combine" or "tie them in" all together, which is contingent upon total knowledge in particular domains (especially in something as fundamental as neurobiology, because all behavior is rooted in neurobio). </p>
<p>otherwise it's the same thing as "learning one damn thing after another", which brings about the obvious philosophical question "why choose subject X over subject Y?" - which is what I keep on asking people (people give some really petty and irrational reasons to justify them, really).</p>
<p>I thought about that. Of course, there's always the risk that a person will come to disappoint you, even if you spend a lot of effort on that person (I dunno, I tend to prize individual contact a lot). certainly though, reforms in education aren't coming from the top down and can only be inspired from specific examples where the instructor has lots of freedom (and perhaps where the instructor could make a difference). Key thought in mind: many educators are very ignorant of educational psychology, in BOTH the schools and universities (schools because you're comparing efficacy between two ineffective institutions, universities because most instructors don't care squat about different learning styles anyways - they care more about the identification of talent - and talent being talent in the form of talent that is entirely self-motivated). I don't know.</p>
<p>Maybe I'm alone in this, but here's what I thought after reading this post:</p>
<p>Go get outside, take in some real-world perspective, and stop worrying so much. Help others maybe, instead of complaining that all the extra math you learned will eventually go to waste.</p>
<p>You should read the comic book series The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I heart that series because in it death is anthropomorphized into a cute goth girl.</p>