Here is the problem with puzzles. You solve them and then they loose their allure. Once I see the full picture I start looking to put together the next puzzle. This is an ongoing struggle in most areas if my life. In all but 2 or 3 areas of life puzzles reach a baseline. A point at which they become predictable and rote. If I can do something without having to think about doing it, I'm over it.
That's probably why teaching is such a good fit for me. I was told before I even entered college to be a teacher that, "Teaching is like a blind date every day." This is true. Not only do you have the variables of each child's daily different emotional level- and the the effect that that has on the other 25 kids in the class- and the varying cognitive abilities- and the different perspectives and background knowledge that each kid brings to the room but you also have the second by second corrections you have to make to ensure that you are delivering content well. To say nothing of your own personal emotional state. And if that's not enough, you have to make it look effortless and feel fun. If you can't do, teach- my eyeball. Teaching well is a dynamic art. I could never find it boring, too many variables.
People on the other hand, not so much. I like figuring them out and then I like figuring the next one out. Obviously this has a curious impact on my relationships. In my friendships this isn't a problem, I'm generally attracted to people who enjoy knowledge for the sake of knowledge. They embark on quests for new information and then they assimilate it to what they know in complex and fascinating ways. They are fun to talk to.
With others it's a bit more of a challenge because I hit a flatline. I don't know the age or mindset when people stop challenging themselves to think but it seems to happen in adulthood. If they do think they their firm opinions and refuse to critically examine their thoughts. Debate is a cognitive exercise that should be a stimulating exchange of ideas. You should both be well educated enough to be firm in your convictions yet humble enough to know you don't know it all. "The quest for knowledge is ever illuminating the road of your own ignorance." Or something like that. The more you learn the more you realize how much you don't know.
Maybe that's why I find know it alls so annoying. To me it demonstrates a lack of real intelligence. No one knows it all. Maybe that's also why I'm so grounded in my spirituality. There is too much evidence of things that I don't understand (or everyone else's collective intelligence for that matter) to not attribute it to something much much smarter than I. You have to bow down in respect to that much intelligence, the excess of pride that undermines seeing that amount of knowledge is kinda dumb.
But enough already.
-Dewb
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