How to Make Ideas From Nothing

I find that there is no end of benefit to be had simply from teaching someone a principle. Last night I had a fairly fast-paced discussion with my brother and sister-in-law on the subject of pandidactism. Somehow, I have failed to this point to teach them the principles thereof. They were more than happy to learn. As I would explain a concept, they would raise concerns or questions that I would have to address, thus reinforcing my understanding of the principles as well as causing me to inquire into the validity of certain aspects of pandidactism and come up with responses to resolve or at least soften certain concerns.

Here are some of the things that I learned: it would be of value, in attempting to market pandidactism, to emphasize its pragmatic value, perhaps coming from the perspective that pandidactism is an associate's degree program of sorts (for it very well could be, if a person chose to make it so).

There is at least one college graduate in the world who would be interested in engaging in the grand experiment.

One could approach certain forward-thinking college professors, asking them to make an experiment of their students - to set said students loose, as it were, to learn the material covered in one semester, and have them challenge the course at the end of it and see if there were any measurable results.

Pandidactism must, by its very nature, remain separate from the institution of universities if it is to retain its integrity. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is that as soon as pandidactism is institutionalized it will require administration, with its associated costs - and one of the foremost benefits of pandidactism is that it is perfectly free. The second reason is that the institutionalization of a system requires that said system be regulated by some sort of structure imposed upon its disciples by an outside administrator, and one of the joys of pandidactism is that is entirely regulated and structured by the individual pursuing his or her own education.

And all of this information emerged from a discussion among individuals without knowledge of education theory at a kitchen table, sans textbooks. Pretty neat. Could it be that ideas can be created from nothing? Maybe.

In other news, I commenced my study of workplace learning by going to my first day at work, and it was pretty grand. I enjoy the company, my supervisors, my coworkers, the whole shebang. We began undergoing our training today. ClearLink, my place of employment, is an inbound phone sales company. So today Matt, my trainer, began training my fellow new hires and myself in the art of selling. While I was sitting in that classroom I couldn't help thinking what an excellent deal this was. It seemed as though I was paying quite a minimal price for benefits received: in exchange for my merely sitting in a chair and keeping my ears turned on, they were providing valuable information that was improving my life and giving me $11 an hour. Wow. What nice people they are.

So today I learned about transferring the burden of owning information to our customers. For example: suppose a customer calls us regarding a promotion in the newspaper for internet at just $20 a month. What they didn't notice in the ad is that, in order to receive this great price, they must also purchase a phone package and sign a two-year contract. But I don't want to break the bad news to them. That would probably make them not want to buy. So, instead, I ask them to discover the bad news - to own it for themselves. So I ask: "What are all the details of that deal?" They commence to tell me, and, in so doing, discover and take ownership of the information for themselves.

So, while many look upon salesmen as low-life hucksters and think this is a terrible way of manipulating people into accepting bad news, I think it's a pretty fair reflection on the importance of owning your life. I would rather discover for myself that my room is a pigstye than have my mom inform me of the fact. If I discover it for myself, own it for myself, I set about quite happily cleaning my room. If my mom tells me, then I feel embarassed and angry that she is imposing her standard of cleanliness on me.

When an outside source like a professor or religious leader reveals an idea to me that runs contrary to my closely-held beliefs, I often react with anger and resentment toward that professor. Even if he's right, I often refuse to acknowledge the fact. Acknowledging the fact takes hours, days, months and years of painful self-discovery. But if I can realize that fact on my own terms without my professor teaching it to me, I will naturally and quite willingly alter my current system of beliefs in order to make room.

So, you see, even low-life hucksters can teach us a thing or two about living a fulfilling existence.

In less fortunate news, my patience for computer programming is waning. I'm sure it is because I have taken a two-week hiatus from doing any programming. Now, all the information that I am processing is becoming painful. I think I'll give it at least one more good day.

Yes, I'm sure the real problem here is that I am simply being too inconsistent about programming. If I could just put in a little effort every day, it wouldn't be such a grating process to learn.

It has also been brought to my attention that I have failed to organize my personal education effort. I really don't know what information will be necessary for me to know in order to pass each respective CLEP test and so my learning is being rather scattered. I'll have to take care of that.

Well, friends, it's been a fun, these last few minutes we've spent together. I hope that you have savoured the rhapsodical fashionings of this post. Please have a nice night. Yes. A nice night, indeed.