Embrace Lifelong Learning, Not Life Hacks

By Dr. Michael Burns

Learning is a cornerstone of a productive, civil, and functioning society, and unfortunately, Americans have been devaluing virtually all learning processes for decades. As an educator, this terrifies me. People assume a level of expertise that I promise you they cannot develop from watching a YouTube video. 

Shortcuts to learning will only get you so far. Where communication is concerned, this has left us in a downward spiral towards what feels like an idiocracy. I realize that’s very harsh, but how else can you explain the bombardment of meaningless and underdeveloped content being spewed daily by many influencers?

When You Stop Thinking Critically

It boils down to our collective reluctance to engage in critical thinking, which is a cornerstone of effective communication. Becoming lazy about learning invariably leads to our sloppy communication landscape and it seems as though misunderstanding is now our expectation, rather than the anomaly it can be. I’m sure many of you have seen the 2006 film Idiocracy, which seemed like an unlikely dystopia nearly 20 years ago but is now our woefully low standard.

The film was a comedy when it debuted, but almost two decades later, it’s not too far from where we are. To avoid any spoilers, let’s just say that the film’s opening explains how the world became an idiocracy because people stopped thinking critically; they got lazy about learning and the inevitable mental atrophy followed.

Though it may be hyperbole, there’s something to the foundational idea of the film that worries me deeply. What does the future look like when we stop doing the work required to learn and flex our minds and only celebrate the fast, efficient, or easy route to everything? We know what happens: Things fall apart. Speed, maximum optimization, and efficiency are great when trying to avoid traffic, but not when trying to solve complex problems or manage relationships. As a result, we’ve stopped encouraging learning and switched exclusively to encouraging and celebrating hacks.

The problem is, that it doesn’t work in the long term, and the evidence is everywhere. We can’t life-hack our way to relational, leadership, or business success. We have to actually try and think critically, communicate effectively, and apply effort and skill to both of these things.

Reviving the Value of Lifelong Learning

This is where lifelong learning can save us. Somewhere over the past few decades, we began to associate learning only with educational institutions, as though once we're out, we're done. We think there's nothing left to learn and we shouldn't even try because it takes effort and energy.

Clearly, we're leaving a great deal of knowledge on the cutting room floor and our educational systems don't just teach us topics and areas of expertise, they also, or at least should, teach us how to learn anywhere and virtually anything. This kind of core skill needs to return to its rightful place as a priority for more of us and we need to strive towards lifelong learning as a respected goal. Nowhere is this more evident than in communication, which degrades more with each passing year, as we adopt more and more platforms that appeal to our sense of efficiency while robbing us of what we're here for, to communicate meaningfully.

Where school is concerned, we now treat education as a checklist and task we need to get out of the way rather than an opportunity to practice and develop our critical thinking skills. As an educator myself, I believe that most of my college students don't actually value what they're learning. They're going through the motions to get the piece of paper that says they know something when in fact, the majority of them don't know much of anything when they graduate. 

This isn't entirely their fault, the system is built to get them in and out and does not celebrate actual learning, it celebrates the students who have figured out the system. Real learning requires time, creativity, taking risks, and failing. Instead, schools do everything they can to help students avoid failure rather than show them how to embrace it and learn from it.

Life Hacks vs. Real Learning

This is why we've glamorized the life hack, get rich quick, instant gratification, influencer ideals, at the expense of the core skill that keeps our society evolving. Among the most guilty culprits for this reverence for speed hacks is tech, which we don't use as a tool, we use it as a way of life. It has stopped us from needing to dive deep on any topic and allowed all of us to feel like experts about anything the internet can deliver to our screens.

To be clear, I'm not saying we need to take a deep dive into every topic we have any interest in, but some level of depth is a win for everyone and transforms dilettantism into actual knowledge. The influencer pool seems to be getting shallower and shallower these days, leaving me to ask: 'Where is the substance'? And the craziest part to me is, we're actually designed to learn. We have tremendous hard wiring to think through complex issues and emotions, learning from every single one of our experiences.

Putting It All Together

This process is what we've managed to silence in many of us, robbing us of one of life's greatest pleasures, learning. It's a process. It takes time. It's hard, but it's what truly separates us from other animals. It's possible to go through adult life without learning much more than we learned in school, but that's a mistake and it makes a mess of our society and our systems. So, play your part, take a deep dive, and learn for learning's sake.

About Dr. Michael Burns

Dr. Michael Burns is a professor, trainer, consultant, and coach passionate about human communication. With a Ph.D. in the field, he blends academic research with practical experience to help people and organizations improve their communication skills—key for success in all areas of life.

He loves bringing the classroom to the industry and has worked with companies and people worldwide. As the founder of Burns Learning, he collaborates with diverse leaders to re-humanize their businesses and lives through impactful communication skills.

Dr. Burns continues his love for teaching by leading courses for our new Lupa Career Accelerator program, supporting Latin American professionals in their search for better job opportunities in the U.S.