Meditation for May 26th
Knowledge – A Meditation Listicle
As a popular meditation coach, how do I get so smart? I know a lot. This isn’t ego talking about how much I know—this is fact. I get asked because people want to know the trick to learning and retaining information. Here are my secrets.
Wanting to know
The number one reason I know anything is because I want to know. Most people don’t care. Some people are afraid of how they’ll feel after learning. The idea of learning is the beginning of diving into something, sometimes it is something that is affecting us, but other times it is just a curiosity about how the world works. Why is this? Most things don’t affect people directly, so it doesn’t need to be known until it does. Knowledge isn’t for people who need to know, but for people who want to know.
Knowing where to look
Finding the information is not tricky, but because of the Internet, it has made people lazy. Just Wikipedia it! Knowing how to track down clear, reliable information is getting more complicated and complex, with most online content being driven by advertising dollars or ideologies and not beholden to the dying ethics of old journalism. This is why most online news sites are biased; they want you to click on it to get the ad dollar. After all, viewing that slant either makes you feel better about your beliefs or gets you emotionally charged because you disagree. Be careful about how simple the article reads, like if it’s in a list format.
Retaining the information
You can read all the books and essays you want, but what’s the point if you don’t retain them? One of the reasons people don’t keep the information is the same as the first reason, because they want to. If you didn’t want to learn it in the first place, then you aren’t going to be interested in the content, so you know nothing.
Another issue is that if what you are reading is making you mad or causing some other emotional reaction, you will only remember the emotional part and the facts that support that emotion.
Remember all those tricks you used in school to pass? Notes, flashcards, and Adderall? Yeah, that works for non-school learning, too.
Learning from what you read requires critical thinking, which is more than what podcasts and YouTube videos can offer—understanding what the primary source means might take more information from other sources. We may have to look at the general story of something before we dive into the details.
Regurgitating the information
What fun is learning if no one knows you know stuff? Don’t let that knowledge stay in your cobweb brain. Tell people. Even if they don’t want to hear it, let them know. Even if it has nothing to do with what the conversation is, let them know. Let them know, even if you don’t see the person you are talking to. Vomit that wisdom all over people.
Mansplaining shouldn’t be considered a micro-aggression, but a way for a person to retain what they have learned. You have to give it away to keep it.
The best way to pull the trigger is when someone says something wrong. FUN! It’s time to correct someone. Maybe they are mostly right, but you felt they weren’t telling the story right. COOL! It’s time to tell the story with some gusto!
“Well, actually . . .”
Try different ways of learning.
Take notes
Use apps, libraries, blogs, books, and experts
Podcasts or audiobooks
Highlight key points in the literature
Do it
Watch videos or documentaries
Kill someone and absorb all of their wisdom, usually through eating their brains.
Prayer
Thoth,
I have made a huge mistake.
I just tried to argue on Facebook.
Someone has taken the bait,
But might be waaaa. You’re more thoughtful and engaged with me.
Are they just quicker with their Google searches?
Or are they just sitting there knowing stuff?
I want to win this argument.
I know I shouldn’t argue because I feel mad.
I mean, I’m grinding my teeth, shaking, and being heavy.
This person may just be ironing their shirts while typing.
Unaware that someone is a type capable of a response that is thoughtful, balanced, and smart,
But still decimate my enemies and stick their heads on spikes at the gates.
Oh, God. I’ve been engaged in this argument for seven hours now and have nothing to show.
Amen.
Craft
Make a list of things you want to learn.
Learn those things.
Teach others.
Repeat.
Goal
You will probably not be more intelligent than I because I am wise. You won’t want to suffer the lengths I have gone to learn what I know.
You are sadly mistaken if you confuse the knowledge I am talking about with things you can use to win bar trivia.