Why Do You Study?

[Mondsee]

Are you a student, specially a college student?

Why do you study? What is your motivation to be doing that instead of any other thing?

[egoeimai]

Knowledge is power. 

[Dan Arnautu]

For the first year and a half in my philosophy degree, studying was enjoyable, but as we got into more and more systematic and futile concepts, I started to lose a lot of motivation. Right now it actually got to the point where I would finish 2-3 books I like instead of a 20 page reading assignment for college.

I would rather read Mastery by George Leonard than the Phenomenology of Spirit by Hegel or the theory of direct refference anyday. I see absolutely no practicality. Like Leo said, academic philosophy is just normal philosophy with it's heart ripped out and stripped of it's best qualities.

I study for life-long learning, for mastering my own psychology, for making systematic changes to every aspect of my own life, for tasting everything that life has to offer before my own death.

[pluto]

I don't study, but i learn every day!

[Vaishnavi]

23 hours ago, Mondsee said:

Why do you study? What is your motivation to be doing that instead of any other thing?

I think seeing life as a beautiful mystery and getting really curious about it is one of the most effective "motivator" but if you see, isn't life really a mystery? Like how do we know what we know? Really having a genuine interest to learn, and know the gist of it, is the best way you can move forward. Also the feeling of having your mind blown by all that life encompasses is.. ecstatic. 

[YaNanNallari]

Because if I study I have a sure way to get to the next school which will help me get a job if I need one. Learning is also fun and it does increase my intelligence, and learning to write well in school ain't that bad either. To be honest school stuff seems secondary compared to learning about myself and the world and I'd rather sit home meditating and reading books about life than be in school. Psychology and philosophy are often kind of lame after Leo's videos since I "know" better. So if I knew how to not have to go to school and get enough money then fuck this shit I'm getting out of here because other things are way more interesting although I can get motivated to study. My plan is to study a lot about money while in uni so that I won't have to struggle as much with it and can seek enlightenment and whatever I see fit more freely.

[Mondsee]

I was asking because I brainstormed myself and found every answer to be quite lame and boring if it was a reason for "why do I study?" as an unspecified activity of going to school or university.

The more inspiring answers came only when it was the answer of "why do I study X?", given that X is a necessary component of my life purpose.

[Christian]

Well, first of all, I have engaged in a lot of activities like partying, relationships, dating, sports, playing video games, etc. While those things are exciting in the short term, they do not bring me that deep satisfaction fulfillment that learning does. Learning about how life works is one of the higher consciousness pleasures in life; sure it is not as exciting as playing a video game, but it is a lot more fulfilling once you connect to the richness of studying. And for me personally, I would rather experience long term fulfillment and learn about life than the short boost of excitement of playing a video game or engaging in some other low-consciousness activity.

 

 

[The Universe]

On 28/04/2017 at 9:02 PM, egoeimai said:

Knowledge is power. 

Knowledge is a tool to go higher. ( Just me tho  )

[General 2]

i've been on a lecture the other day and realised how freakin' boring the educational system is...

knowledge and learning are amazing, they help to understand how the universe works, and its true value is being diminished within all these educational institutes

Edited May 24, 2017 by General 2

[Torkys]

Leo explains it well in this video. Also, if you don't study, you don't know what you want. And yes,

On 2017. 04. 28. at 9:02 PM, egoeimai said:

Knowledge is power.

[MIARIVEL]

@Mondsee I am in my last year of my Law degree. However after 6 years I have decided to study nutrition. I have also previously studied counselling, Psychology and have a diploma in Life coaching, NLP & Matrix therapies. 

I have to say I love learning and everything that I have learnt all plays a part in where my life is heading and what I want to build for my future. My motivation to keep learning all I can is because I believe knowledge is power. It can open so many doors for you and you become and expert in various fields the more you study and learn. This is an important value for me to have because I like to always be on top of my game especially when being surrounded by like minded people. 

It has also given me confidence to speak up and have confidence talking about certain topics and I feel apart of something when I know more about something. 

[Dantas]

@MIA.RIVEL There are lots of reasons to study: learning, growth, expertise, teaching, etc. But I think what's the most important to me is to handle life better. And of course, you can be a better ressource at whatever you do.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Dantas

[Thomas]

What else is there to life than make your best efforts to understand it?

Enlightenment? I don't even know what enlightenment is, so I have to study it, probably just to realize that it cannot be conceived by the mind.

 

Studying makes You understand how little You actually know and how much there is yet to be discovered.
In fact the relation between how much You know and how much You realize You don't know grows exponentially.

Isn't it goddamn cool?

One day You think your human organism is a simple thing, and the other You learn about how many mechano- & chemoreceptors You have just in a tiny part of your kidney called nephron and that these receptors constantly monitor the pressure and contents of your blood plasma, without You knowing about it, and they send signals to the endocrine glands, like pituitary gland in your brain and adrenal glands just above your kidneys. Then based on these signals antidiuretic hormone (ADH) or/and RAA system (where Aldosterone is the big star) are getting involved in reabsorption of water directly (ADH) or indirectly via reabsorption of sodium and excretion of potassium (Aldosterone).

Aldosterone takes a huge part in maintaining homeostasis of sodium levels in your plasma - That's why You can avoid salt or eat a lot of it and You will be around 138 mmol/L in both cases.

Vasopressin (ADH) is so fucking awesome it can not only act as a water/electrolyte regulating hormone while it's being released from the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, but also as a neurotransmitter while released directly into the brain. It acts similarly to adrenaline and can have a strong nootropic effect, but it raises blood pressure significantly, so it's a bad choice for students to buy it from pharmacies in order to get a learning performance boost.

 

Also, bugs don't die from carbon oxide intoxication, because they don't have any hemoglobin it could bind to, to create carboxyhemoglobin. They have a pipelike system running through their bodies that allows respiration via diffusion of oxygen, while our respiratory system needs a contractile force in addition to diffusion due to the fact that we need more energy.

 

You obviously don't have to go to college to study, I know personally a few financially free people around my age (20) who are hardcore learners - Not the kind of easy to read self-help books, but 800 pages long textbooks on neurobiology.

And I know too many MDs that go through 6 years of education and finish without understanding basic biochemistry, so You basically sometimes have to correct them (I had a client who had elevated Creatine Kinase, which is normal in athletes and doc told him he had rhabdomyolysis lol).

Plus when You're scared You'll run out of things to say to a girl You can always spit out some scientific facts or give a Latin name of every single part of her body You touch.

Science is fucking badass and people doing it usually are too.

 

But I have to warn everyone who wants to study:

You will get annoyed by reading basic questions people have regarding the subject You study.

And by annoyed I mean sometimes You will just shut down your computer, walk to a mirror and stare at yourself bluntly for at least 10 minutes and trying to comprehend why the fuck are You doing what You do, since 90% of the time trying to have a factual discussion with people is like playing chess with a pigeon.
You could be the greatest player in the world, but the pigeon is just going to knock over all pieces, shit on the board and strut around like it's victorious.

Also, keep in mind that understanding Krebs Cycle doesn't make You any more clever than You were before. I may know how many ATPs are created in one cycle, or where in mitochondria a proton gradient is created, but I have no clue how to tie weird ballerina shoes of my 10-year-old sister, while she does it in a blink of an eye.

At the end of the day I study, because I want to have a better, more complete understanding of the world - magic, belief and bold claims without verifiable evidence don't satisfy me.

 

@Edit
You can also play a Mr. Smartypants by writing on a Self-Help forum, while You'd be totally eviscerated by any decent scientist from academia.

@Edit2
I highly recommend watching at least a couple of episodes of "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" with Neil deGrasse Tyson - that guy nails life purpose with science and bring an almost spiritual touch to science itself.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Thomas

[Mondsee]

1 hour ago, Thomas said:

Plus when You're scared You'll run out of things to say to a girl You can always spit out some scientific facts or give a Latin name of every single part of her body You touch.

Hahahahaha! This is it!

1 hour ago, Thomas said:

@Edit2
I highly recommend watching at least a couple of episodes of "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" with Neil deGrasse Tyson - that guy nails life purpose with science and bring an almost spiritual touch to science itself.

I'll check it out, thanks

[Ritu]

i read some replies above and yes it is true that knowledge is power it makes you skilled , gives you confidence.

you study for two reasons;

1) society(means you have no dream about your future and just studying to get a degree)

2) for your dream

the first one is painful , i mean it is so boring and hurtful when you do something not for you but for no reason or you can say for the sake of family or society, it's like you are in a train and you don't know the destiny , no direction at all.

the second one is for your dream , when you have a dream the study becomes your mean to get that and i should say it becomes a wonderful journey which teaches you so many lessons , skilled and the most important thing it never makes you to ask yourself " why do you study ?" .

i hope you got your answer to some extent , if you are asking this question to yourself that means you need to talk to yourself buddy  ask yourself and work on your dream and believe me you are gonna love it .

all the very best!