Fundamental Elements

I've come to the conclusion that one's ability to learn is based on two fundamental elements: desire, and open-mindedness.

If a person is dead-set on one notion, no amount of evidence presented or education offered to the contrary is going to change their mind. Unless one is desirous of learning something new, it isn't going to happen.

I have to admit that my mind has become, and continues to become, more open with every passing day. You know how it is when you're young -- you know everything, right? Then you actually grow up and discover how wrong you really were. Well, most of us do, that is. I can't help but feel a little sorry for those people who become prisoners of their own pre-conceived ideas and stagnant mind-sets. I can't imagine not exercising my mind by learning new things, even if it contradicts things I've believed for a very long time. Discovery -- that's what life is all about, isn't it? So for those people who choose to cocoon themselves in ignorance, life must seem very safe and comfortable; but in reality, they're missing out on so much life has to offer. Change is difficult, and new can be uncomfortable .... but at least in the midst of it, you know you're living by virtue of the sensations they cause.

Personally speaking, I would much rather feel uncomfortable than be cramped and tightly-wrapped inside a mind with no doors.