The Western Way to Learn

As mush as possible, as fast as possible...

     There is a very silly book out there by Paramahansa Yogananda that introduced me to a unique revelation about the western way of learning. I won't waste my time quoting it verbatim, but the idea was that westerners learn each subject as quickly as possible, almost as if this were all some big race. Of course, they never really learn the subject at all. 

     The Indian way of learning was presented by way of example: when an Indian is taught the Vedas, he is taught each verse over and over until it becomes an unforgettable unit of his mental processes. Only then does the instructor move on to the next verse (never mind the next chapter). The end result is that the student can recite the Ramayana by memory, unbroken, as easily as if he were asking you for a glass of water. 

     This is no doubt an example of Vedic hyperbole (or maybe not), but it hits at an important point. Westerners rush our education with disastrous consequences. We zoom through the subject matter in record time without ever really understanding it or, worse yet, knowing how to use it. I know this to be true in my gut as I'm sure any reader will. Yet, as a person who hates rote memorization with an ugly passion, how to address this shortcoming?

     My solution is to reduce all of the underlying techniques of each discipline into some combination of fundamental scientific, linguistic, or mathematical principles -- using a common terminology. Then, as I learn new subjects and rehash the old ones, I submit myself to a more endurable form of rote memorization. Each time it feels new, yet each lesson is composed of ideas I know well already. This creates problems. First of all, how do I describe complex and subtle artistic ideas in universal (often mathematical) terms. Also, as I do this, I must discard the entropic terminology of the art-form in question and substitute my own. As a result, professionals in the field have no idea what I'm talking about should I choose to converse. 

     Besides, this is a slow process and bedeviling to the nth degree. I still haven't realized enough of this declarative language to publish a lexicon or method to teaching it. Nonetheless, progress occurs and I find myself retaining a little bit more and more with every effort. It makes logical sense and it seems to be working. It's a work in progress and I resign myself to being called a crackpot in the meantime. But hopefully not in the same league of crackpot as the aforementioned writer.