The promise of the discovery of the most precious mysteries of the universe lies within a clear mind filled with intent, empty of presuppositions.

Learning requires an appreciation for nuance, with careful attention paid to one’s ontological and epistemological orientation. But most of all, learning demands of its subject the desire to pursue truth. Information and learning have never been cheaper or more accessible, while the cost of education has never been higher. This phenomenon has and will continue to paradoxically weaken the importance of peer reviewed scholarship, along with the respect that scientifically verifiable knowledge has historically garnered.

Learning is inherently about the pursuit and elucidation of truth through verifiable and reproducible facts, not embellishing or augmenting the importance of the perspectives of outliers, giving them veto power over the better part of concerted opinion amongst careful thinkers. Learning holds as its primary value rationality rather than ideology, using logic rather than the vicissitudes of passion as the vehicle of knowledge and truth. Knowledge is value-free, while truth is the moral application of knowledge, both scientific and ethical.

Learning starts with a premise, a mental stance that says, “I do not know”? The mind must free itself of preconceptions and be unfettered by agendas. One must simply be open, in the most broad sense of the term, with a fully receptive and agnostic stance about what is to come. The a priori condition for learning can be described as a kind of curious surprise coupled with the intent to fully understand, but not internalize. Learning does not affect one’s identity, for that is ideology; it affects one’s consciousness, for that is awareness. And awareness is the energetic footprint of the pursuit of truth, or the end result of learning.