I am not a fan of the word ... well I hate the word intellectual.
I prefer more grounded in reality; phrases such as a good living being or not being dead while still physically alive or simply the word "life".
This is a well written beautiful piece (and I didn't know 95% of all Wikipedia articles led to philosophy):
Conway’s Game of Life is an example of emergence and self-organisation.
When we surround ourselves with abundant, diverse ideas, complex ideas emerge. These ideas are unique and do not resemble the ideas from which they emerged.
Even if the initial set of ideas seem simple and disconnected, spontaneous order can emerge, leading to brilliant ideas.
Emergence and self-organisation are all around us. In the sciences, society, art and in nature.
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Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem.
That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.
We all need to come down from our peaks. For us to truly learn something, we need to abandon our views about it. Because the act of coming down from the peak forces us to do three things
- Understand the limits of our thinking: As we come down, and shed our views, we start seeing our field of knowledge more objectively, and understand that there are limits to our thinking, even though we are experts.
- Open space for contemplation: Once we come down, and make our way to another peak, we start walking, which opens the space for contemplation.
- Isolate ourselves from our ego: Once we have stripped ourselves of our views, and contemplated, we isolate ourselves from our Ego. This act of isolation humbles us, makes us realise our follies and helps us see illusions we have lived under.
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Here is how you could do it
- Define 1-2 areas you’d want to learn about. Something you have been genuinely curious about, ideally for a long time.
- Ask EVERYONE you know - Hey, I am interested in learning about Y. Do you know someone who knows a lot about Y?
- Once you find a connection, ask for a warm introduction. I can almost guarantee you, the expert will be happy to give you their time.
- Ask thoughtful questions. Don’t expect them to explain things to you, but ask them to point you to resources, or craft a learning path with them.
- Put in the hours, immerse yourself in the resources and update them about the progress you have made and the things you have learnt.
- This in turn will start a conversation.
- Repeat 1 - 6 for the rest of your life.
And what will happen?
You have kickstarted your own version of ‘The Game of Life’. Remember, the Game of Life has only one variable: The starting point. You now have not just ideas from your field, but ideas from fields you know nothing about. You will now see ‘emergence’ in action.
