Great love is born of a deep understanding of the thing loved.  - Leonardo DaVinci

Learning new information, new skills, new tricks, is something that is so highly reverred and encouraged among our young, but our lifestyles generally tend to steer us away from learning as we grow older.  Other priorities and responsibilities become too abundant to avoid, and we are gradually weened from the intrinsic desire (and even instinct) to learn.

In today's wonderful world, humanity and the technology industry is brining so many new and useful tools into your home to make it easy to pick up where you left off and keep learning.  Podcasts, video classes, free encyclopedias, and a myriad of other sources of knowledge is only seconds away from you right now.

You can find free math and physics classes online at http://www.academicearth.org  These classes are actual videos of a full semester course at the top academic institutes in the country:  Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc. 

USC Berkely now has tons of podcasts online for free at http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php

Learn out loud also specializes in podcasts and other media designed to teach you new and interesting things.

What is the Importance of Learning?

Learning (anything) offers a great opportunity to increase your appreciation for a certain subject, or life in general.  If you have ever had an appreciation for something - and I'm certain that you have - you will inevitably by knowledgable on the subject, at least to some extent.  This can work in both directions, if you find that you're depressed, or stuck at your job, or can't find the happiness that you'd like, try picking up some new knowledge on a subject.

For instance, I recently took a course through The Teaching Company, on Ancient Egypt.  And having no prior knowledge on the subject, I was clueless as to what I would take away from it.  The course was 24 lectures, each 45-60 mins, and I learned all about the pharaohs Normer, Hatshepsut,  Ramises and all the way through Alexander the Great.  It was a great lesson and now that I'm finished, I have a great appreciation for life in 2000 BC and the struggles that people faced. 

No matter what you learn there will always be something that will give you some sort of appreciation. 

Leave a comment about something you're learning now, or something you'd like to learn about.