I often joke that we are living in the age of “The Jetson’s”, a favorite futuristic cartoon from my childhood. Absent the flying cars (which is possible) phone calls and business meetings are easily held on screen. That’s been the norm for the past few years and the pandemic necessitated a shift in how we conduct orientations, workshops, classes, business meetings, and even my 2020 family reunion was a Zoom and YouTube event. The rapidly changing technology, new software, and creative apps have made lifelong learning not only more feasible but also more important than ever for job security, efficiency, creativity, productivity, and conducting everyday business.
The world has gotten smaller while the universe expands. There was a time when we opened an encyclopedia to find obscure information. We worked out math problems on paper. And only the wealthy could see the world. And then things changed. But now just about anything you want to know or see is accessible in seconds by a simple internet search. What we learn and how we learn it is also changing. It is both exciting and intimidating.
The old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” has been disproven by neuroscience. However, some of my friends express an unwillingness to try to keep up. Sometimes I’ll tell my husband about a new innovation and his response is, “I’m good”, meaning he is unwilling to learn about or even try using the next new thing. However, when his doctor’s office moved to telehealth because of the pandemic, he had no choice but to learn about teleconferencing. I find myself often stepping in these days to show him how to do things on his phone or on the Smart television. And thankfully, my children also assist me.
In the last few years, I discovered YouTube as a valuable knowledge resource. I learned how to use my new iPhone 12 by watching YouTube videos. I also learned more authentic ways to make fried rice, chicken swarma, and sushi on YouTube. Learning Spanish, gardening techniques, medical information, recipes, and a dictionary are accessible on my phone through apps like “Duolingo” ,”Plantin”, “Web MD”, “All Recipes” and “Dictionary”. I’m currently taking an online class to learn calligraphy through an instructor on “Teachable.com”. And just this week, my son, a Facebook friend, and Oprah Winfrey convinced me that I needed Oculus 2, a virtual reality system that allows me to travel the world without leaving my home. It also has games and other useful content for virtual business meetings.
I purchased the system for $399 and watched videos on YouTube to learn the best ways to use it. Already, I traveled to Botswana to hang out with the rangers who protect elephants. I traveled to the deepest parts of the ocean with explorers to learn about the life that surprisingly thrives in that environment and how our plastic waste has even made it there. I’m excited about the places I will go and the things I will see and how much I will learn without ever leaving my home. I’ve always loved learning; it’s one of my personality traits, but lifelong learning is important for everyone who wants to maintain a healthy brain and thrive in the modern world, especially financially.
I’m a finance buff who made it a habit early in life to read books and to attend financial literacy seminars as a means to learn how to become financially secure. Putting those many lessons into practice really paid off and I am comfortably retired. Since the pandemic, I have subscribed to various financial planning channels on YouTube to keep me up to date on wise investment strategies, retirement distributions, tax strategies for retirees and Medicare. I will say that as a frequent YouTube watcher, I find it well worth the $15.99 per month premium subscription. I’m convinced that the lack of knowledge in areas of consequence cause real life pain. For example, on C-Spann this morning, I was disappointed to hear a 70-year old retired woman with a PhD in Cultural Anthropology decry her inability to survive on Social Security alone. I lamented that she never learned about savings and investments, despite her academic acuity. She is looking for a new job, but no one is willing to hire her. My guess is that her age and outdated skill set are the problem.
Knowledge is the foundation of good decision making. I believe we must know better to do better and as technology advances, exploration expands, science learns new things, and creativity blossoms, the need to continually learn has never been more imperative. It seems that so many problems in our society stem from the lack of knowledge. But today, an unwillingness to learn new things is simply asking to be left behind. Better humans are lifelong learners.
In closing, I am reminded of the day my husband got a cut and asked for the iodine. I laughed because we haven’t swabbed iodine on cuts in years. In this world, knowledge becomes obsolete. In fact, realizing how things change, I watched hospital infant care videos for new parents on YouTube before visiting my new grandson to take care of him this past summer. And sure enough, things have changed since 1985 when my youngest child was born. I’ll say it again, better humans are lifelong learners.