In my last post I discussed the Trivium. It is the classical form of learning and information discovery. In my first post in that thread I mentioned that the point is to improve yourself and one of the ways to do that is to start to monitor yourself as you start to explore information. This allows you to identify where you are (at the moment) on the teachability scale.
When faced with learning something new, most people adopt a mindset somewhere between arrogant and naïve. We assume that the person talking to us has nothing of value to say (arrogant), or we assume their authority and believe everything they say (naïve). Between these polar opposites are cynical, skeptical, teacher, student, trusting and gullible.
The ideal mind frame for learning is midway between teacher and student. It is quite natural to trend towards skeptical when presented with something you have never seen, much the same as one may move towards trusting when reviewing material that you are familiar with.
This is all normal and fine, but I would ask one thing of you. If you find that your mindset is moving beyond these parameters, in either direction, stop your exploration of the subject for the moment. At the very least, be aware that your ability to objectively learn is beginning to diminish.
The first steps in improving yourself is to begin to pay attention to your physical self, your emotions, and your thoughts.
