The Bestest: interview Part 2: Dare to disturb the (common) universe

In Part I one of my interview, Eman shared information about his world: his country, his school, and his place in them. Today, he answers just one question, but what he says and the way he says it should be included in any new student orientation programs around the world. His approach to learning supports what many renowned public intellectuals and business experts write about in their words about learning to learn.

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You and I have talked about many philosophical and political issues. You have taught me a great deal. Did you always have the passion for learning that you do now? Is there anything you would like to share on this topic give how much you seem to have valued your undergraduate education?

I definitely wasn’t particularly interested in my studies growing up, simply because they were not given to me in a palatable manner for the most part. At our high school, there is this culture about doing things as a means to “getting ahead”, not as an end in itself (the end being something like personal growth or character-building) and I’m not someone who has ever, ever been able to motivate myself to do things for those kinds of reasons.

But that actually isn’t a weakness. It’s very much ended up being one of my personal strengths. The fact that I don’t run around doing things to climb any kind of ladder, creates the kind of space for me where I am then able to clarify my values and pursue the things that really get me passionate. Human beings do extremely well when they do things for the right reasons. That’s when suddenly people start looking “talented” (there is no such thing as talent). But most students spend so much time worrying about falling behind in some kind of bizarre race; a “race” where no one is exactly sure where the winner ends up, what he “wins”, and if they even want to end up at that finish line as the winner of this strange game that, frankly, results in people not learning when they should be learning.

Mark Edmundson, whose essays you have shared with me, talks about this and it resonated extremely deeply with me. I found some of these challenges at my university as well. Students rush around building resumes instead of looking inside of themselves. And, as Edmundson claims, the problem here is that the system encourages this. I don’t mean to sound like some kind of Uncle Eman lecturing people but I have a few important points I want to make here.

The first one is on the difference between competition and inspiration. When you compete with someone else, like your peers, you are, at best, slightly better than them, and in the process probably become quite similar to them. “Hey, that guy has a resume folder!” so you go buy a nicer resume folder. Well, guess what just happened, you guys are kind of the same person now. Woops. An important thing, even if all you want is to find a job, is differentiating yourself. What value do you add? How can you add value if you are trying to become like everyone else or, at best, a slightly better version of everyone else? Does that make any sense to you? If it doesn’t, why are you doing it?

The alternative, and far more difficult approach, is that you do your best not to compete. Instead, you take the time to look inside of yourself, and try to really figure out what matters to you. What inspires you? Then you use some kind of faraway role-model(s) who have lived in the way that you value, and you use those decisions and actions as inspiration for your own growth. In this manner, you will probably become a more interesting human being, achieve more because you will be looking “up”, instead of sideways, and you can share this inspiration with the people around you, instead of competing with the people around you, which will result in more inspiration, and probably a few or more deep relationships. There is simply no way to forge a deeper friendship than to share an inspiration about something with someone. That “inspiration” can be anything –football or philosophy. But I encourage any younger students reading this to make sure that their relationships, and their own approach to their peers is more about sharing inspiration and less about competition (which, ultimately, breeds sameness).

Here’s another important piece of advice that I was once given that I’d like to share in the hope it helps someone reading. I can’t remember if this is a local Pakistani saying or not. Every life is to be lived in two parts. The first part is for learning, and the second part is for “gaining honor”. And those who spend the first half of their lives trying to gain honor, when they should be learning, usually end up missing out on the real honors that become available to an individual at a later stage of their life. The point here is simple folks: please don’t worry too much about your reputations at this age. Just get that ego out of the way and learn. I’m not suggestion learning is only done by literally reading. You can learn by doing anything. Just make sure you’re learning the things that matter and not the things that will give you short-term “honor”. I hope someone out there reads this and gets what I’m trying to say here.

There are words here that indicate that Eman does focus on doing things that might help him be successful. Is he misdirected in his focus on doing things out of passion rather than following the traditional path to economic success? Is his focus on learning as an intrinsic goal out of touch with today’s world?

In answer to these questions I will cite two of more prominent thinkers on these topics.

What motivates workers most effectively? Higher salaries. That is the quick fix that has been in place since capitalism has taken over the global economy. It makes perfect sense. Why else would we pay senior executives so much if it was not true that paying people huge sums motivates them to perform at the highest level. Simple cause and effect.

Watch the following video and listen to Daniel Pink. Pink, the author of many books takes studies from MIT, and Profs from U Chicago to prove his point:

 The data conclusively proves that higher order skills do not respond well to economic incentives. Actually the opposite is true. Paying people more actually leads to poorer performance. The simple cause and effect that most would think rational isn’t.  Instead, allowing people autonomy and the space to innovate creates far better performance. Eman’s words essentially say he is way ahead of the game because he has been pursuing his passion in just this way.

But what about learning? How should student learn and how should they be taught. Eman mentions Mark Edmundson, a person I have profiled on this site for his essay on how students should pursue education in college (named one of the best essays of the year in 2012).

Now he has just published a book, Why Teach, which includes this essay and others on what education has become and what it should do in the future. Just yesterday he was interviewed about this on PBS and he continues to write about this for Harpers and other major publications. I will simply include two blurbs from the book, which to me should be on the shelf for any student. Parents or educators interested in creating people who are innovative and self-directed learners (what Daniel Pink proves are the most productive people) should consider which schools, departments, and majors understand that sometimes unquestioned ‘common sense’ approaches are not what students need to thrive.

In prose so fresh and personal that it leaps off the page, Mark Edmundson launches a stinging critique of higher education today. Everywhere he sees teachers flattering students, confirming their prejudices, and training them for the success game rather than opening their minds to new ways of looking at the world. His teaching ideal, developed here in exemplary detail, is at once utopian and absolutely essential. This book deserves to be widely read.” —Morris Dickstein, author of Gates of Eden and Dancing in the Dark

 “Mark Edmundson obviously missed the intellectual timidity gene that's so helpful for an academic career.  He has the audacity to argue in this book that universities should not be business and consumer training facilities, internet hookup spots, and workout centers, but places where students grapple with ‘perspective-altering’ intellectual challenges.”

—Gerald Graff, Professor of English and Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, former President, Modern Language Association

Eman embodies the kind of student who ‘gets’ education in getting an education. His focus on learning may not be what many choose today in college and such is the pity. His approach coincides with the unlikely combination of the utopian professor and the data driven thinker about job performance. And yet in talking across disciplines and experiences all seem to arrive at the same place: a love of learning and passion for life and the civic virtues this includes.

There is one last blurb about Mark’s book I want to share:

"A spirited and cheering read…accurate and insightful, even inspiring." —Chicago Tribune

I would simply add that these words apply to Daniel Pink’s and Eman’s words too.