In his 1899 book, The Idea of a University, John Henry Newman warns of the dangers of superficial learning and, reciprocally, argues for the need for learning substantively.
“A man may hear a thousand lectures, and read a thousand volumes, and be at the end of the process very much where he was, as regards knowledge. Something more than merely admitting it in a negative way into the mind is necessary if it is to remain there. It must not be passively received, but actually and actively entered into, embraced, mastered. The mind must go half-way to meet what comes to it from without.”
Like Sir Ken Robinson alluded to in his speech on Ted.com, education often strip-mines the mind rather than furnish it. (posted 4/8/09)
