How to Lifeschool? - People

What is a Double Learning Model?

“When you find a writer who really is saying something to you, read everything that writer has written and you will get more education and depth of understanding out of that than reading a scrap here and a scrap there and elsewhere. Then go to people who influenced that writer, or those who were related to him, and your world builds together in an organic way that is really marvelous.”

― Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work

This approach to learning has really influenced my thinking and learning approach. If I found an author whose books really spoke to something deep within me, I would then read the other books written by this author.

I would then find out who inspired this author and read the books of the people that inspired him as well. I would then finally read articles by the person and go through the person's website online. I would also watch videos of the person's talk online.

This way you get an idea of how the person thinks and not only how he writes one book or prepares one talk. This is the same with a speaker or subject expert that you really connected with. Find out about all the other work done by that person and study everything you can about the person’s work.

Why did you connect with this person?

Because there was something in that person’s book or talk that spoke to something you have within yourself or something you are passionate about or something you wanted to express from within.

When you get that feeling of actual connection with a person’s work, do not let that feeling or emotion die there. Read everything written by that person. Watch as many videos of that person online as you can.

Give me one example of how you applied the Double Learning Model in you life? 

-Ken Robinson

I saw a talk on the TED Website of Sir Ken Robinson. The talk was titled, ‘Do schools kill creativity?’ I was so inspired by the talk that I started watching the other lectures and talks given by Ken Robinson online. This included a one hour lecture at the Royal Society of Arts titled, ‘How to change Education from the ground up’ and a fifty minute lecture at the the Dalai Lama center by him titled, ‘Educating the Heart and Mind’. I also saw the remaining TED Talks Sir Ken Robinson has online.

I then made a list of all the books he has written and bought or borrowed copies of them. I read and devoured these books and took detailed notes about each one of them. The books I read by Sir Ken Robinson included

1)  Out of our minds: Learning to be Creative (2001)

2)  The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (2009)

I would also find out about people that inspired Ken Robinson himself. I would study their work too. I also did an indepth study on Ken Robinson. I studied his upbringing and the way he was brought up. I understood how he developed his thinking by seeing the courses and jobs he took up over his life time.

All this helped me get an understanding of the way he thinks, and not just the way he wrote one book or prepared one talk.

Give me another good example? - Leo Tolstoy

Similarly when you read the work of an author that has written a classic. Let us say you read Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. You must also understand the context in which it is written. Because a lot of the author’s personal experiences and life are reflected in his or her writing.

That is why before you start reading the work of any author. Watch a video of the author’s life online or read about their background or biography. So you get an idea of where the author is actually coming from and the context in which he or she wrote each book of their life.

Because Leo Tolstoy had undergone a spiritual transformation and realization and this was reflected in his later works of writing. For instance War and Peace was written with the background of the French Invasion in Russia. But the novella, ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ was about Death and was written after Tolstoy’s religious conversion in 1870.

Thus if you read the books separately, it will look like they have been written by two different author. But if you understand the though progression of the author over time, reading both the books will make more sense to you.

You have to see through the author’s eyes and understand his or her view of the world to really get an idea of the way the person thinks and the time and stories he or she has written about.

There is so much to learn from People. Every individual around you knows something you do not know. If we listen enough, every individual can become our teacher.

Let us Learn Together

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