THE LEARNING SOCIETY

[continued from the Last Post.]

Even today, we know more about our phones and automobiles than we do about our own minds.

Despite having attained ‘high intelligence’ and ‘culture’ we remain in a cognitive prison. Our ways of learning and interacting with one another have remained primitive, and principally “user-belligerent.”

From simple bacterium-like organisms to complex eukaryotic cells to large multicellular animals, we have emerged and evolved as a predatory species, to the grief of most preexisting life forms.

We need a fresh consciousness. If not, we remain on course to annihilate our habitat. The solution lies in creating a Learning Society.

We are confronted by the master unsolved problem of biology — how the hundred billion nerve cells of the human brain work together to create consciousness. Yet we have free will to choose our actions, from the infinitude of emotion-charged and symbol-drenched, arbitrary in content, multifarious options on offer.

Why not choose to be a superspecies of learning organisms that blend together to form a Learning Society?

This ‘learning culture’ would apply to infants, families, pensioners, executives, and would be free of the ills that beset the planet today.

Idealistic? Indeed. But all it needs is a will to move: from ideal to intention to illumination ~ an awakening to the truth that we can lead ourselves only through learning continually; our societies can thus stem the rot and salvage the future for our species.

“You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.”

– G.K.Chesterton

All learning is brain-to-brain, inspired by heart, spirit, mind, body, and soul. When brains connect, illumination dispels darkness, possibilities spark into life. Imagination oxygenates the brain, and ideas flourish: The engine of Intellectual Capital is in motion. The world is alive, and magic must happen.

"Imagine the brain, that shiny mound of being, that mouse-gray parliament of cells, that dream factory, that petite tyrant inside a ball of bone, that huddle of neurons calling all the plays, that little everywhere, that fickle pleasuredome, that wrinkled wardrobe of selves stuffed into the skull like too many clothes in a gym bag."

~ Diane Ackerman

[Excerpted from the 'Leadership, Learning & Laughter' edition of The Braindancer Series of bookazines by Dilip Mukerjea. All the images in this post are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea.]

Say Keng's personal comments:

To help readers in developing a personally relevant 'learning culture', here is my broad recap of the critical skills & attributes for effective managers in the 21st Century [extracted from the 'Optimum Performance Technologies' weblog]:

- inter-personal communication (people skills);

- ability to act with integrity;

- ability to manage change & adapt quickly;

- ability to motivate & counsel people;

- being a strategic thinker/visionary leader;

- analytical as well as creative problem solving skills;

- having a global mindset;

- ability to make informed decisions & take quick actions;

- being able to anticipate & recognise industry trends & market conditions;

- ability to manage & resolve conflicts;

- knowledge of information technology;

- knowledge of financial performance & risk management;

- knowledge of strategic as well as scenario planning;

- influencing & negotiation skills;

- knowledge of multiple languages;

- knowledge of geopolitical & cultural diversity;

- business development & presentation skills;

- having a self development mindset;

- ability to facilitate & manage teams;

- staff recruitment, training, appraisal & mentoring skills;

- ability to manage energy & stress;

- resiliency (able to balance job, family & external demands);

- project management skills;

If you are an educator/parent/student, I suggest dropping by this wonderful link, which provides an excellent roadmap to the skills, knowledge & expertise which all students of today should master in order to succeed in the 21st century.

I reckon, in the end analysis, the most absolutely, fundamentally important aspect of surviving & thriving in the 21st century is learning & acquiring new skills, & more importantly, learning them fast!