Learning isn’t preparation for ‘life’

We generally learn things so that we’re better prepared for the future. Either because we’ll know things that will help us or because we want to develop a skill that will be helpful in future. In this way of thinking, learning is something that happens outside of our ‘real’ lives.

Instead, how about thinking of learning as a satisfying and desirable experience in itself?

As the quote (often misattributed to John Lennon) goes: “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans”. (The quote is actually from Fred Shapiro, in 1957)