Learning At All Costs

Today is a day for introspection, so of course, I will be talking about someone other than myself. This person happens to be one of my best friends: Mike. I met Mike back in high school; and though we did not go to same school or live in the same city, we both shared an interest in math and science (aha! you have discovered that we are n3rds, but I promise: no long equations in this post). After a couple years of meeting up at Cal State Long Beach or JPL for various mental fitness challenges, we developed a strong friendship. Luckily, Mike and I both ended up at Pasadena for college and we both continued to commiserate on eclectic cornucopia of problems: from the dearth of women to the dearth of good ways to solve that oh-so-pesky differential equation. Over the years, we struggled through problem sets, all-nighters, Firefly, and the requite college drunken-ribaldry. Through these travails, we both learned a lot from each other--about physics, electrical engineering, and life in general.

Now, here is the curious thing about Mike. Whenever he is presented with something new (or something plain interesting), he will try to understand it completely. No matter how much time it takes. No matter how many sleepless nights it takes. No matter how much effort it takes. Despite impeding deadlines, lack-of-sleep, and hunger (although the latter probably is a falsehood), Mike will understand away till he figures that thing out. As a result, in college, Mike didn't always end up with highest grade or the most timely solution to his problems sets; but he sure as hell learned more than anyone else.

Well, you might ask, what was the point of all this effort if he didn't get the top grade, or the most-coveted-fellowship, or some other reward? The answer is simple. He put in the effort to learn something because it bought him pleasure. Because he wanted to discover something for himself. Mike developed a penchant for trying to understand something for the sake of understanding it. Learning at all costs. This is the lesson I should have learned from Mike many years ago (certainly pertinent one as I deal with the consequence of a not-so-happy quantum midterm); an approach to life that I am now, after five years, happily taking. And since I did promise that were would be no long equations, I will leave you with a short one:

Learning for the love of it = Happiness

You can read about Mike's latest curiosities at his website cum blog: intellectualpornography.com (I promise, this is a legit link).