Today, thinking and learning are considered positive habits but rarely have the both of them been collectively emphasized. While schools generally encourage students to think for themselves, the process of learning new material and getting the grade devalues the thought process that is quintessential in development. This topic of learning and thinking is often the subject of the maxim that many great thinkers delve on. One would be hard-pressed to think that someone back in the day could come up with a saying that rings ever so true even today.
Flashback to 551 BC. Confucius – thinker, philosopher and educator whose influence on Chinese history has been compared with that of Socrates and Aristotle.
Preferring silence over the utterance of scholarly prose, Confucius chose his words with due caution. One would think that spending a highly contemplative life would lead to the procurement of much knowledge, and quite rightfully so. Over the years, he has been cited and parodied for his sayings and words of wisdom. He founded the Confucian school of thought that centered upon the pillars of how one should live their lives and interact with the world around them.
Among his library of works, I have chosen this aforementioned aphorism as I feel that it captures the whole learning process succinctly – the very reason why we are here in college (and ILS for that matter) - so that we learn to think, and as Confucius will concur, think to learn. He purports that they are not mutually exclusive, linear processes. But rather, they are ongoing, and seamlessly transition into each other. For an education to be considered successful, thinking and learning have to be part of a continuous two-way process.
Confucius never limited his choice of students or audience, evident in his overarching choice of words. This broad appeal unconsciously prompts readers to “think” and “learn”, and the mere mention of these two verbs catalyze the thinking and learning process. Upon reading the blog title, you might find yourself pondering its true meaning, maybe you might begin reading up on Confucius, his teachings, philosophies, analects and I am certain that you might find something within to apply to your own life. Therein lays the effectiveness, and beauty, of the quote.
Like many Confucian sayings, the inductive logic at work holds more substance to this saying than there appears to be. While the message is clear, its implicit meaning holds substantial truth and gradually unraveling its layers will reveal a deeper significance.
Principally, thinking and learning does not refer to getting an education alone. If someone is a good thinker and learner, does he mean he is learned and educated? Perhaps Confucius meant to cover more bases than we initially thought. Though society has generalized notions that these terms refer to getting an education and in a very loose sense of the term, “academically intelligent”, I believe being a good thinker and learner can also apply to other aspects of our lives, say for example, physical intelligence. Any athlete can tell you about the mental fortitude and perceptiveness it takes to outwit and outplay their opponents on the field. Being able to self correct, pick apart weakness and ultimately win, involves a great deal of thinking and learning, both on and off the pitch/court/field. A seamless flow between these processes is ideal; one cannot exist without the other. They enforce each other to create a snowball effect that leads to the stimulation of cognitive activity, generation of creative ideas and the stimulation of analytical and evaluative skills.
Being lost conjures the image of lacking a compass, intellectually, morally or spiritually. To learn without thinking means the absorption of knowledge without reflection; to be a passive absorber, much like a sponge. Without actively ruminating and making sense of what is before us, we do not have a perspective on it, and we are thus lost. From any existing body of information that is presented to us, we have the capacity and opportunity to churn out new ideas and share these with the world. The ability to analyze gaps in knowledge, fallacies, assumptions, stereotypes, strengths; such is the power of the human intellect. If we merely absorb the knowledge (which might mean learning to some, but definitely not to me) without actively thinking about it, the information is lost on us. The whole point of learning is to gain something useful, but it will only be so if we think, discuss, and form opinions about it.
To be in great danger, as Confucius puts it, is to jeopardize one’s life or career, whether working or academic (just to name a few). For example, college students would be at the danger of failing their exams if they simply answered essay questions based on what they thought, without being able to explain with concrete evidence and facts they are supposed to have internalized from material during the course of their learning.
For a more literal interpretation of being in danger, I shall begin with a question, “Why do we have laws?” If there weren’t any laws to govern us, there would be complete anarchy and chaos (literally, great danger). People would act impulsively and there would surely be much display of unrestrained behavior. Having laws keep people in check; we learn about the law at an early age, and are assimilated into society to think in a certain lawful way so that there would be order and peace.
Everyone has the capacity to think and form their own opinions, but our points of view are baseless without some sort of foundation, and this is where the knowledge we learn come in. Facts, theories, evidence, case studies and knowledge that we pick up in books and in school help to buttress our opinions. They are anchors to our thoughts. We must always be able to justify our reasons/thoughts with some form of logic. It would be hard to get by otherwise because it is the linchpin of society. Should we choose to think without learning or vice versa, society and man are doomed.
Reading through the phrase quickly, one would get the idea that there is repetition involved. However, clever permutation of his subjects (thinking and learning) and consequence (being lost and in great danger) provide suitable juxtapose of structures in both sentences. It turns both sentences in on themselves and with only a seemingly minor change, this stirs the want in the reader to give it another pass. The reader is rewarded this second time around with a more logical understanding of the whole idea. Along with this, a second pass yields a different and deeper meaning, reinforced by Confucius’s employment of concise words which forces the reader to contemplate his intended meaning. It is useful in this scenario, as it creates a pensive mood, which I believe is the intended effect. In essence, a simple and ingenious play of words and structure help create the very act of thinking and learning, playing right into the author’s assertion.
Its uncomplicated choice of words and epigrammatic structure distill the very essence of Confucian thought and philosophy. How thinking should not exist without the learning, and how both aspects are interdependent. The beauty of this timeless aphorism lies in its simplicity and cleverness, and it is a maxim that I feel everyone should always have at the back of their minds.
Flashback to 551 BC. Confucius – thinker, philosopher and educator whose influence on Chinese history has been compared with that of Socrates and Aristotle.
Preferring silence over the utterance of scholarly prose, Confucius chose his words with due caution. One would think that spending a highly contemplative life would lead to the procurement of much knowledge, and quite rightfully so. Over the years, he has been cited and parodied for his sayings and words of wisdom. He founded the Confucian school of thought that centered upon the pillars of how one should live their lives and interact with the world around them.
Among his library of works, I have chosen this aforementioned aphorism as I feel that it captures the whole learning process succinctly – the very reason why we are here in college (and ILS for that matter) - so that we learn to think, and as Confucius will concur, think to learn. He purports that they are not mutually exclusive, linear processes. But rather, they are ongoing, and seamlessly transition into each other. For an education to be considered successful, thinking and learning have to be part of a continuous two-way process.
Confucius never limited his choice of students or audience, evident in his overarching choice of words. This broad appeal unconsciously prompts readers to “think” and “learn”, and the mere mention of these two verbs catalyze the thinking and learning process. Upon reading the blog title, you might find yourself pondering its true meaning, maybe you might begin reading up on Confucius, his teachings, philosophies, analects and I am certain that you might find something within to apply to your own life. Therein lays the effectiveness, and beauty, of the quote.
Like many Confucian sayings, the inductive logic at work holds more substance to this saying than there appears to be. While the message is clear, its implicit meaning holds substantial truth and gradually unraveling its layers will reveal a deeper significance.
Principally, thinking and learning does not refer to getting an education alone. If someone is a good thinker and learner, does he mean he is learned and educated? Perhaps Confucius meant to cover more bases than we initially thought. Though society has generalized notions that these terms refer to getting an education and in a very loose sense of the term, “academically intelligent”, I believe being a good thinker and learner can also apply to other aspects of our lives, say for example, physical intelligence. Any athlete can tell you about the mental fortitude and perceptiveness it takes to outwit and outplay their opponents on the field. Being able to self correct, pick apart weakness and ultimately win, involves a great deal of thinking and learning, both on and off the pitch/court/field. A seamless flow between these processes is ideal; one cannot exist without the other. They enforce each other to create a snowball effect that leads to the stimulation of cognitive activity, generation of creative ideas and the stimulation of analytical and evaluative skills.
Being lost conjures the image of lacking a compass, intellectually, morally or spiritually. To learn without thinking means the absorption of knowledge without reflection; to be a passive absorber, much like a sponge. Without actively ruminating and making sense of what is before us, we do not have a perspective on it, and we are thus lost. From any existing body of information that is presented to us, we have the capacity and opportunity to churn out new ideas and share these with the world. The ability to analyze gaps in knowledge, fallacies, assumptions, stereotypes, strengths; such is the power of the human intellect. If we merely absorb the knowledge (which might mean learning to some, but definitely not to me) without actively thinking about it, the information is lost on us. The whole point of learning is to gain something useful, but it will only be so if we think, discuss, and form opinions about it.
To be in great danger, as Confucius puts it, is to jeopardize one’s life or career, whether working or academic (just to name a few). For example, college students would be at the danger of failing their exams if they simply answered essay questions based on what they thought, without being able to explain with concrete evidence and facts they are supposed to have internalized from material during the course of their learning.
For a more literal interpretation of being in danger, I shall begin with a question, “Why do we have laws?” If there weren’t any laws to govern us, there would be complete anarchy and chaos (literally, great danger). People would act impulsively and there would surely be much display of unrestrained behavior. Having laws keep people in check; we learn about the law at an early age, and are assimilated into society to think in a certain lawful way so that there would be order and peace.
Everyone has the capacity to think and form their own opinions, but our points of view are baseless without some sort of foundation, and this is where the knowledge we learn come in. Facts, theories, evidence, case studies and knowledge that we pick up in books and in school help to buttress our opinions. They are anchors to our thoughts. We must always be able to justify our reasons/thoughts with some form of logic. It would be hard to get by otherwise because it is the linchpin of society. Should we choose to think without learning or vice versa, society and man are doomed.
Reading through the phrase quickly, one would get the idea that there is repetition involved. However, clever permutation of his subjects (thinking and learning) and consequence (being lost and in great danger) provide suitable juxtapose of structures in both sentences. It turns both sentences in on themselves and with only a seemingly minor change, this stirs the want in the reader to give it another pass. The reader is rewarded this second time around with a more logical understanding of the whole idea. Along with this, a second pass yields a different and deeper meaning, reinforced by Confucius’s employment of concise words which forces the reader to contemplate his intended meaning. It is useful in this scenario, as it creates a pensive mood, which I believe is the intended effect. In essence, a simple and ingenious play of words and structure help create the very act of thinking and learning, playing right into the author’s assertion.
Its uncomplicated choice of words and epigrammatic structure distill the very essence of Confucian thought and philosophy. How thinking should not exist without the learning, and how both aspects are interdependent. The beauty of this timeless aphorism lies in its simplicity and cleverness, and it is a maxim that I feel everyone should always have at the back of their minds.
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