5 July 14

The Art of Learning:

“History is never erased, nor forgotten. ‘Regret’ is merely wishing things were different, absent any willingness to act in order to cause a change. By contrast, ‘repentance’ is a sincere admission that we’re going the wrong way, combined with a personal resolve to change direction. ‘Regret’ is a useless emotion that requires no effort and is thus as common as it is profitless. ‘Repentance,’ however, calls for action and is thus rare, and ever dangerous and painful!

Even repentance cannot alter history, but it will change the future. ‘Regret’ changes nothing, and, like all emotions, accomplishes nothing.”

Anon

“Incremental progress through diligent and perfect practice of basics”

hardly sounds glamorous, and the concept thus has scant appeal to the shallow and self-centered, an accurate description of many, probably most, Americans.

As reiterated above, stationary momentum is difficult to overcome. As instructors, we need to find a way in inspire our students sufficiently to cause them to be willing to leave the familiar and comfortable alters of false gods and come with us on a perilous, frightening, and uncomfortable journey, the True Way!

Even then, both student and instructor “see through a glass, darkly.” Few instructors have ever reached the state of “True Enlightenment.” Who have are as miserable as ever!

The rest of us, students and instructors alike, have to have the courage and personal honestly to respectfully question the reasons for everything we do.

“Faith” doesn’t make good science. Curiosity does!

Professor Jacob Barnhardt (played by Sam Jaffe) to “Klaatu,” (played by Michael Rennie) in the 1951 science-fiction classic, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”

“Obedience” does not define a good learning environment. Reciprocity does!

Bob Duggan

There are things about our Art that I, to this day, don’t understand. There are things I’ll never understand! Just because I don’t, maybe can’t, understand it, doesn’t mean it is not true, good, and right. In our Art, there is a place for science, and there is a place for faith. There is no place for smugness and vanity!

In the end, the goal of the student and the instructor is always the same: The improvement of the student. So long as we keep that in mind, we won’t go too far astray!

“A poker player learns that sometimes both ‘science’ and ‘common sense’ are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust ‘experts;’ and that there are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in the philosophies of those with an academic bent.”

David Mamet

/John