An Analogy of the Learner

"Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes;
Being vexed, a sea nourished with loving tears.
What is it else? A madness most discreet,
A choking gall, and a preserving sweet." 
Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, Act 1 Scene 1

A lot of people talk about what love is like, however my question now is: What is learning like?
And more specifically, what is a learner like?

I would say that a learner is like...

  ...a river basin.

At first it was in its natural state much like a brain just born. There was a basic understanding of information in a simple system, however that system would soon begin to grow fast. Just as humans' settlement in river basins forever changed them with agriculture and irrigation and eventually industry, the human brain too changes once it settles in the world. Colors and sounds, people and animals, home and outside, city and country and everything in between is eventually classed and arranged there in a way particular to the individual brain and where it is. No two brains are exactly the same and no two river basins as well. Each has different connections and each got to its present state through its own unique journey. 

George Siemens in his online presentation, What is Connectivism, states that "Different types of networks with different type of attributes will serve different types of learning needs" (Slide 19). I think that this means that salient information is subjective, we remember and learn and develop according to what we consider important and this is largely dictated by our needs. Additionally, as Siemens states in his article, Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today." No surprise then that the slim Nile River basin developed differently than the lush and wide Yellow River basin. Different connections for different needs were made and "Learning is the formation of new neural connections" (What is Connectivism, Slide 11). The irrigation ditches and roads of the valley are the neurons of the brain that continues to develop with each passing experience.

A Madness most Discreet

In experiencing more, we learn more and, more often than not, want to learn more. This means making more connections and people have done this for ages. Most of the entire planet is now literally connected and even remote places can be seen from satellites and physically accessed quicker than ever before should the need arise. This is what Siemens describes as "Our desire to exceed our humanity through technology" (What is Connectivism, Slide 6). Apes seem to be content with being apes, however humans with that critically larger brain seem to never be content with anything. We have made connections all over our brain and within our river valley and finally all over our planet. It's nearly impossible to imagine what the world would be like without these networks. In the short video, The Changing Nature of Knowledge, Siemens states that "The Network becomes the learning." Here, Siemens is referring to what he calls the "external" network, meaning not in the individual's brain, but rather his or her colleagues. It is impossible to remember everything, thus we create a larger network or join a new network to be able to learn more.

Like Shakespeare's portrayal of Love, Learning is also powerfully motivating.