Never Stop Learning

The 11th of April, 1983 was one of the most important dates of the history of the music.

Somewhere around 9 A.M., Cliff Burton, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich knocked on the door of the New York apartment where the fourth member of their band, Dave Mustaine, was residing. They woke him up, ignored his hangover, kicked him out of the band and handed him the return ticket to California.

As some of you probably recognized by the names of the people involved, the band Mustaine was kicked from is Metallica. There was no explanation. There were no pleasantries, no second chance, no remorse ⁽¹⁾Every reference to actual Metallica song is completely accidental

To make things even worse for Mustaine, Metallica had recently signed a contract to record their debut album. They came to New York a week before the recording started. The ticket he received was a bus ticket; his return trip to California was to last four days. ⁽²⁾Loudwire: Mustaine Fired From Metallica Anniversary

The reason for Mustaine’s departure was simple. Apparently, Mustaine had a little alcohol problem. Whenever he drank, he got aggressive, and the rest of the band members were troubled with that. The fact that he was kicked out by the guys who jokingly called themselves Alcoholica gives you the idea about the extent of his problems.

The remainder of the story and the morals stemming from it were perfectly described in a Mark Manson article about measuring success in your own life. Mustaine went on to find his own band, Megadeth, which together with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax become a part of the Big Four of the thrash metal. Yet, since Metallica was commercially most successful of them all, even much later in his life Mustaine admitted that he still felt like a failure. ⁽³⁾Mark Manson: How Do You Measure Your Life

However, the story of Dave Mustaine and his measurement of success is not the only lesson we can learn from this episode. To me, the mindset of his substitute, the current Metallica guitarist, Kirk Hammet, is even more instructive and inspiring.

In the middle of the afternoon on April the 1st, Hammet was called by the manager of his band Exodus Mark Whitaker (who was also Metallica’s sound engineer). Whitaker offered him an audition for Metallica. He also told him that he would copy him Metallica’s demo overnight, so Hammet could learn all the songs. Instead of waiting, Hammet got his hand on the demo earlier with the help of a couple of phone calls. By the 2nd of April, 12.00 A.M., he had already learned half of the songs. He went on to ace the audition next week and got his place in the band. ⁽⁴⁾Loudwire: Kirk Hammed Invited Audition Metallica Anniversary

Already this small episode tells you a lot about Hammet’s character. However, I was even more impressed by Hammet’s first move as the new Metallica member.

Although the band didn’t make it big yet, the fact that they were offered the opportunity to record an album definitely meant something. In the underground circles, there was already buzz about the Metallica as the next big thing. Already the first compositions (on some of which Dave Mustaine also participated) started to redefine the genre of thrash metal. Metallica’s later success could have been anticipated.

It could have definitely been regarded  as an opportunity of a lifetime for Hammet. He had every right to feel cocky. He had every right to think he had deserved it. He had every right to feel entitled to success.  He had every right to go out with the members of his former band Exodus and get hammered like there’s no tomorrow to celebrate. ⁽⁵⁾Oh, wait.. he actually did that.

Anyway, upon being accepted, Kirk showed a dazzling amount of humility. Although considered as a gifted guitar player already, he realized that his skill can be polished further. He realized that he still sucks relatively.  In the words of the psychologist Ryan Holiday ⁽⁶⁾Ryan Holiday: Ego is the Enemy:

Despite joining his dream group and quite literally turning professional, Kirk insisted that he needed more instruction – that he was still a student (…)

Joe Satriani, the man Hammet chose as his instructor, would himself go on to become known as one of the best guitar players of all time (…)

Satriani’s playing style made him an unusual choice for Hammet. That was the point – Kirk wanted to learn what he didn’t know (…)

Even when Metallica made it big, Hammet never gave in to success. During his Rock and roll Hall of fame acceptance speech, he displayed all those traits that allowed him to become a great guitarist he is in the first place.

Therefore, Hammet is one of the best examples of how willingness to never stop learning can take you very, very far in life.

WHY WE STOP LEARNING

For approximately first 25 years of our life, humans learn all the time. We learn obvious things such as walking and talking. We learn basic stuff about the world around us by boring our parents with bazillion questions. We learn that guys can’t really be friends with girls as teenagers. We learn that guys really can be friends with girls by the young adulthood.

Unfortunately, the attitude of Kirk Hammet’s is an exception that proves the rule. At one point in his life, an average Joe starts losing his willingness and his motivation for learning. This gradual lack of drive is partly caused by the characteristic of the learning curve. The learning curve describes how the amount of new things we learn is correlated to our experience. Mathematically speaking, this relationship is exponential; we could say that the learning curve is highly saturated.

For those of you that who haven’t pressed Alt+f4 after reading this engineering blabbering, let me explain. The shape of the learning curve tells us that whenever we start learning something, progress is most obvious at the beginning. The more and more we learn about a certain field, the harder it gets to improve our knowledge and more time and patience is required.

Anyone who has ever trained a sport should be familiar with this concept. Difference between someone who has trained a sport for 1 year compared to someone who has trained the sport for 5 years is enormous. In table tennis ⁽⁷⁾For the sake of this article, we will pretend that table tennis IS a sport, it is a miracle if someone is able to execute a proper top-spin after only 1 year of practice. It is a miracle if someone isn’t able to execute it after 5 years of practice.

On the other hand, if we take someone who has played the game for 16 years and compare it to someone who has played the game for 20 years, the difference is no more obvious (or probably existent) at all. At this point, it might take months, or even years, to master a small technical detail and to step up your game to another level.

Naturally, this requires a lot of patience, dedication and perseverance. Since we are all outcome dependent, we like to see the results of our hard work immediately. It is no wonder that many of us easily lose motivation to learn.

However, not only the amount of motivation determines our willingness to learn. Arguably, its character is even more important in that regard. During our formal education, we are mostly extrinsically motivated. We learn new things to get good grades, to make our parents happy, to play our role of the class nerd because that is the identity we feel comfortable with.

Unfortunately, once our education is done, the rewards going along with it are gone. If there is no intrinsic motivation involved whatsoever, the extrinsic motivation alone won’t be enough to keep us going.

THE PARADOX OF EXPERTISE

Apart from motivation issues described above, presumably an even greater adversary of our willingness to never stop learning is the paradox of expertise. The paradox of expertise basically claims that „knowing“ things tend to get in the way of „learning“ things. Once we start thinking we are an expert, or that someone else thinks we are an expert, going back to learning presents a very difficult task. It is just as hard to admit to yourself that you don’t know everything as it is to let others find it out themselves. ⁽⁸⁾Psychology Today: Why We Stop Learning . Admitting that you don’t have the answer to something is considered weak and immediately becomes a subject to shame.

The paradox of expertise is especially expressed in today’s society. The need to know everything escalated particularly due to the development of the social media, through which individual is exposed to a greater number of people than ever before. Since there is a broad public „following“ everything you say, write and think, your „weakness“ may become apparent to a great number of people. The feeling of shame you potentially have to face is simply too damn high. Therefore, it is easier to avoid it completely and never question your knowledge in the first place.

There is plenty of evidence of this „know-it-all“ mentality out there on the social networks. Just go through the comments on basically any online post and you will see a bunch of people trying to convince everyone else about how they figured everything out and how everyone else is wrong. However, this behaviour is not exclusive to the online world. I have experienced people claiming „they don’t have anything to learn anymore“ throughout my whole life.

For instance, I have noticed the presence of the paradox of expertise within many table tennis coaches here in Croatia. I can’t think of another field of human activity where I have met so many experts. Everybody always knows everything, from the tiniest technical detail to the fitness preparation and best nutrition plans. Judging by the comments, you would guess that most of the trainers have competed, or at least trained someone who has competed at the World Championship level (Spoiler alert: They haven’t).

Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those elitists who thinks that only the greatest expert can be a proper tutor. But it is rather irritating when someone has the „I have nothing more to learn“ attitude when it is painfully obvious he has.  I am still often appalled by the lack of the self-awareness in table tennis circles. Everbody blames everyone else for everything, everybody knows everything better than other trainers, etc. There is too much competition and jealousy involved and many people just look for the way to make money quickly, without putting some real effort. Rarely anyone has the „never stop learning“ attitude toward the sport.

The greatest irony lies in the fact that the results of our junior and senior national teams have never been worse. Were it not for Andrej Gaćina (who was rank 18 in the world at one moment),  Croatia would be virtually non-existent on the table tennis map of the world. By the way, as a junior player, Gaćina was labelled unpromising by Croatian „experts“. He had to move to Germany to become a player he is today.

One thing I have also noticed about the paradox of expertise is that it is positively correlated with the time you have devoted to the study of a particular field. In that regard, I am even more annoyed with the state of the mind of the elderly chess players here in Croatia (as the more perceptive of you might have guessed, yes, I do get annoyed rather easily).

Since chess is a game that one can play virtually until he dies, there is a decent number of players in their seventies who have played the game for 40 years or more. It goes without saying that many of them assume they know everything about the game of chess. God forbid someone younger tries to teach them something about chess, even if that youngster is a much stronger player. That would threaten the identity of chess „knower“ they have been building for a very long period of time.

Now, I know you have to account the mental rigidity and narrowness of the mind that comes with the age. But still, their behaviour is sometimes really amusing, especially when you bear in mind that even World Champion Magnus Carlsen claimed that, he doesn’t presume to know much at all. ⁽⁹⁾Magnus Carlsen: I Don’t Know Much At All

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER STOP LEARNING

Carlsen’s claim is highly reminiscent of the much more famous quote by the Greek philosopher Socrates, who said that: He knows that he knows nothing. Apart from not annoying annoying people like me, there are also some real benefits of adopting Socrates’s philosophy as your own:

1. You become happier

Our ancestors were very simple people. In order to be happy, all they needed to do was to hunt a mammoth and to shag a female of his choice (sounds easy, right?). By nature, their needs were purely physiological.

With the development of society, human needs also developed. Famous psychologist Abraham Maslow divided the needs of the modern human into five categories. The structure of the needs is pyramidal; once a „lower“ need is satisfied, the one that is higher in the hierarchy gets our attention. On the top of Maslow’s pyramid is the need for self-actualization. Apart from other things, self-actualization includes things such as creativity, acceptance of facts and problem-solving. ⁽¹⁰⁾Although there are people disputing Maslow’s theory, mainly the fact that “higher” needs get attention only once a “lower” is satisfied, for the sake of the article we will stick to his original teaching. See Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs – The Pitfalls of Teaching It , for instance

Maslow was echoed by the bestseller writer, Daniel H. Pink. In his book dedicated to motivation, Pink wrote ⁽¹¹⁾Drive: Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us:

Human beings have inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capacities, to explore and to learn. 

Therefore, assuming your basic needs are satisfied, by continuing to learn throughout your life, you can become a happier person. I can confirm this from my own experience. Unfortunately, sometimes I have virtually nothing to do during my working hours. Although I do try to spend that time constructively ⁽¹²⁾For the sake of the article we will assume that this text belongs in the “constructive” category,  sometimes I solely waste time during my shift. On those days I  feel exhausted and unhappy after work than on days I do actually do some work. Even though sitting and doing nothing sounds like a dream for many people, I honestly feel much more fulfilled if I have actually managed to use my brain here and there.

2. You become healthier

As we age, the function of our brain decreases as our brain cells decay. Learning can slow down this process, as constant brain engagement develops new neuron pathways. Elderly persons who adopted the never stop learning policy have scored better on memory tests, cognitive tests, have reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease.⁽¹³⁾There are numerous articles that confirm this fact, such as this one: Psychology Today: Never Too Old Grow Ne Brain Against Dementia 

3. You become more interesting, charismatic and „greater“

Very simply, the more you know, the wider variety of topics you are able to have a proper conversation about. The more knowledge you accumulate, the more experience you have, the more confident you feel in unknown situations. By constantly learning, you greatly increase your chances to reaching your full potential and becoming „great“.

Kirk Hammet is only one example of how this attitude can lead you very far. It is no accident that many great historic persons have never stopped learning throughout their life. Theodore Roosevelt is another perfect example. After developing his ability to speed read, he devoured book one after another. He would read one book in the morning, during his breakfast, and then further three or four books in the remainder of the day (depending on the obligations). Those who met him were impressed by the depth of his knowledge about a variety of topics. ⁽¹⁴⁾Art of Manliness: Lifelong learning

Bill Gates was similar to Roosevelt in that regard. On Facebook, on one occasion he has written that: No matter how busy his schedule is, he always makes time to read at least one book a week. Judging by his personal website, he was not lying. ⁽¹⁵⁾Gatesnotes:BooksTherefore, listening to what Bill Gates says can hardly do you serious harm. Because apparently, Bill is a very rich person. Which brings us to the final point.

4. You become richer

Although the word “rich” has multiple meanings, let us stay with the monetary one for the moment.

Nowadays, human knowledge increases rapidly. In 2013, it was estimated that the knowledge of humanity is doubling every 12 months, with the estimation that in the future it will double every 12 hours. For comparison, up to the year 1900, the knowledge doubled approximately every century. ⁽¹⁶⁾Industrytap: Knowledge Doubling Every 12 months

Consequently, formal education is becoming even less and less significant. Its length hasn’t followed the increased amount of information that is available to us; 50 years ago the majority of people got their degree in the early 20s, similarly as today. The never stop learning mentality is, therefore, more important than before. We can conclude that even without entering the discussion of the quality of the formal education in the first place.

This fact is especially important in today’s job market. Potential employers are looking for a much more than a simple college degree. It is hard to blame them; only when I started working in the real word have I realized how unprepared I am for it after college. I had to spend 3 months just studying my „field of expertise“ only to get a vague clue about what is going on.

It is also important to note that nowadays job market is much more dynamic than ever before. Many jobs that exist today seemed like a distant future some 20 years ago. Also, jobs that exist today might not even exist 20 years from now. By constantly learning, increasing your skills and adapting to the brave new world, you highly increase your opportunities and a chance for a steady income.

A recent episode of the Weekly Tonight show about the Coal industry is a perfect example. It is an unpopular thing to say, but coal industry has too many disadvantages to be considered competitive in the modern world. There is no easy long-term solution to the reduction of jobs in it. However, the software company Bitsource actually supported the coal miners to transition and become the software engineers in their company. ⁽¹⁷⁾The Weekly Tonight: Coal

Not only are there more opportunities for a job than ever before; it is also easier to start your own business from nothing. Due to the Internet, it doesn’t take a lot of income to simply „go out there“ and offer your product, your service or play as a wannabe blogger.⁽¹⁸⁾Every similarity with real-life persons or events is completely accidental

One episode from my own life reminded me that learning allows you not only to earn more money but also, to avoid losing it. When I started working, I also started investing in common stocks. Prior to that I have read a decent amount of books and made my first transaction only after I have gotten an idea of how Mr. Market operates.

I have disclosed my plans to some of my friends, and one friend was especially interested in the whole story. However, once I have given him all the books I have read, he was immediately discouraged by their size. He had no patience to learn. He had no willingness to never stop learning.

Instead, he went on to buy  some stocks immediately, claiming that „He knows these companies anyway“ and „He has finished engineering, he can figure out a couple of numbers by himself.“ It goes without saying that he committed almost every rookie mistake the books warned against in the first place:

• Selling stocks on the rise too early
• Buying stocks on the basis of speculation
• Doing multiple transactions in hope of maximizing his profits

Naturally, the result of everything was a big minus sign on his bank account. And since I was the one who partly talked him into it, I felt really guilty (and I still do). Therefore, next time, when I hear someone saying that he knows everything, I will simply quote the popular HBO show, Game of Thrones. Because, mi amici, you are just like Jon Snow.

You know nothing.