I’ve always been intrigued… by people’s professions of brilliance, for themselves or for others (family members are a favourite) and their justifications for their beliefs.
Personally, I tend more towards what today’s Scribblism is getting at:
Education is
a progressive discovery
of our own ignorance.[symple_spacing size=”10″] ~ Will Durant (🐦 Tweet Me!)
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When I was a boy my dad shared the following words with me. It’s a bit long for a Scribblism but it’s darned thought-provoking, just like today’s piece. My dad’s full of this sort of stuff, along with obscure poetry and light musical snippets and pithy prose for every occasion… he’s brilliant at it 😉
He who knows and knows he knows is a wise man; seek him.
He who knows and knows not he knows is asleep; wake him.
He who knows not and knows he knows not is a child; teach him.
He who knows not and knows not he knows not is a fool; shun him!
If shunning someone just coz he doesn’t know much seems a bit harsh, think again. That’s practically the definition of an insufferable smart-ass who doesn’t actually know the one thing that counts: that no-one actually cares about all the stuff he’s desperately trying to impress us with.
Whether we’re learners or teachers (or ideally both), humbleness is probably one of the most valuable character traits we can have. The initial vast blank slates of our minds can be scrawled and scribbled upon, but they can also be smudged or effaced and can certainly never be filled.
The danger in thinking we know it all is that we stop educating ourselves more. And as soon as we become complaisant about our so-called expertise, we stop learning, which is the beginning of the end of our wisely functioning brains and maybe of our useful contribution to society too.
So I agree with Will Durant that education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. I would add that with this growing awareness of the impossibility of knowing it all we should develop a goal of understanding what is really interesting and important to us, mix it around a bit with our own ideas and experiences, and pass it on to others who might appreciate it. Which is what I’m doing here actually. Know what I mean?
~ Sab Will
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Notes on ‘SCRIBBLISMS Blank Slates Await’
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Scribblisms is where we have fun sharing and thinking about some great learning quotes from down the years. Feel free to join in the discussion – the more the merrier.
Rainbow English School is a non-profit educational organisation based in France. We aim to improve the level of English and the effectiveness of teaching in general. We work with teachers and educational organisations to help them adapt and personalise their teaching methods. Our method and approach is based on the latest scientific research into how we best memorise, recall and usefully apply k
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