Why Learning Is A Life Long Process In The Information Age

Not too long ago, in a by-gone era we call the Industrial Age, the rules were to get good grades, find a safe, secure job with benefits, and stay there all your life.  After twenty years or so, you retire, and the company and the government will take care of you for the rest of your life.  Those days, as they say, were the “good ol’ days.”

Fast forward to today.  In the Information Age, the rules have changed.  The rules now are; go to school and get good grades, find a job and then retrain yourself for that job.  Find a new company and a new job and retrain.  Find a new company and a new job and retrain.  In the new era, the buzzword seems to be to train or retrain.  The ability to learn, unlearn and relearn is moving at a staggering pace.  If you are not a genius, you will soon be obsolete if you do not learn fast enough.  In the old days, information is moving along at a manageable pace.  If you are using old methods of learning today, to deal with the “Information Hurricane” coming your way,  you have to be prepared to be swamped. 

The good news is that new methods of learning are available today to help you cope with the never-ending surge of information.  You can invest in some new learning ‘brain’ tools to help you remember information and facts much better.  Such tools improve your memory and concentration to give you an edge.  You could learn how to be creative, for example, to start a new business to scratch an itch that no one else has thought of.  After all, Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

In the Industrial Age, the defining theory of the era was Einstein’s E=mc2.  In the Information Age, the defining theory of the era is Moore’s Law, which gave rise to the current concept that that the amount of information doubles every eighteen months.  In other words, to keep up with change, you need to virtually relearn everything every eighteen months.

In the Industrial Age, change was slower.  What you went to school to learn was applicable and valuable for a longer period of time.  In the Information Age, what you know becomes obsolete very quickly.  What you learned is important, but not as important as how fast you can learn, change, and adapt to new information.  In the bygone era, parents tell their kids “You must go to school so you can get a safe, secure job”.  In case you have not noticed, today jobs are plentiful.  The challenge is not to get left behind because you become obsolete working at your current job.

Simply put, the Information Age will bring economic changes that will dramatically increase the gap between the have and the have-nots.  For some people, these changes will be a blessing, for others, these coming changes will be a curse and still for some, these changes will make no differences at all.  There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who say, “What happened?”

I hope you do not fall into the last category of people.  You can make yourself valuable by staying relevant.  Stay on top of things by learning and relearning.  Remember learning is a life-long process, it does not stop when you leave school.  If you do not increase your ability to learn as you grow older, your IQ will fall.  Keep your body active and fit.  Keep your mind sharp and eat healthily.  Change is inevitable, but if someone is not prepared for change or swarmed by it, it becomes a stressful and depressing situation.  Never rest on your laurels and always be prepared to embrace the future.  And the future can be quite exciting.