When I was a young boy I remember spending days on end pondering the question “If you take one step forward towards an end point, and each step is exactly one half the distance between you and that end point, how many steps will it take you to get there?” The seemingly illogical answer is that it takes an infinite number of steps and you never get there!
Similarly confounding and one of the conundrums we all discover about learning is that the more you learn the more you realize how much you don’t know. With each answer comes more questions and so the amount you realize you have to learn grows exponentially!
Brian Greene, a noted physicist and author, penned what I thought was an excellent article in Wired ((May 2009) called “Questions, Not Answers, Make Science the Ultimate Adventure” summed it up beautifully. Brian, by the way, is the author of two excellent books that have helped satisfy some of my continuous curiosity of the cosmos: The Elegant Universe”and The Fabric of the Cosmos.
I like Brian’s observational skills and writing, and his article included some great observations such as:
“To be a scientist is to commit to a life of confusion punctuated by rare moments of clarity.”
and:
“Every so often the blur resolves, but the respite is short-lived; the next puzzle demands focus. This, really, is the joy of being a scientist. Establish truths are comforting, but it is the mysteries that make the soul ache and render a life of exploration worth living.”
Brian’s experiences resonate strongly with mine, and I think and hope that each of us can substitute our profession, domain, or interest for his use of “scientist” or “science” and feel the same way.
What I do know is that just like the answer to my childhood “how many steps” question, I will take as many steps forward in learning as my life allows and yet never arrive at a an endpoint of knowing all. For some perhaps, this is the ultimate frustration and makes learning futile. But for me and I would hope for most, the journey, the pursuit of knowledge, and understanding, is the destination. One of the greatest gifts in life is that I will always have an infinite supply of things to be curious about and to learn.
My fondest hope is that we will all be fortunate enough to marvel at the mystery of things around us, be forever curious, and be blessed with a journey in life that is one of unending learning.
-- Wayne
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