Language learning is a medium for exploring the world and the cultures around us. Once caught up in the "language fever" one becomes addicted to the hunt, the search, and the endless varieties of languages and cultures.
This motivation and social-linguistic pursuit is only one embodiment of a general hunger and curiosity. Curiosity, slightly different from interest, is a raw attraction for something, an urge to discover, explore and understand more. Curiosity is our fuel for learning. It's learning for the sake of learning.
Becoming curious is a lot about developing awareness and openness for the things, people, and ideas around us. Instead of a soft skill, curiosity can be seen better as a muscle that can be developed. It's a practice.
The advanced learner will soon discover that from a certain point, EVERYTHING becomes interesting or worth researching. Moreover, after decent experience in self-study and self-directed learning, One will quickly develop the notion that everything is available and accessible for learning and exploring.
In the age of the Internet, open resources, and knowledge distribution, this understanding is empowering, liberating, and overwhelming all at the same time. On the one hand, the ability to acquire any skill is one of the most important tools in the modern world. It is the freedom to explore different domains, make connections, and create new concepts, ideas, and projects. On the other hand, "having the world in the palm of your hand" can lead to stress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.
Just like with language learning, the problem is that with the food comes the appetite. The advanced learner will quickly develop a new kind of FOMO, FONK - Fear Of Not Knowing, the fear and anxiety resulting from ideas, platforms, techniques, and disciplines yet explored and researched.
I believe that this FONK is an (almost) inevitable part of the process of becoming an aware, conscious, and educated human. It can, however, be minimized and handled. The first step is to understand where it is coming from.
FONK is derived from the false notion that knowledge is finite. this leads to a false image of a finish line. This finish line represents an imaginary process in which we map our areas of interest and relevant resources as we mark all of our "learning check boxes".
This negative thinking loop collapses when we identify that knowledge is infinite. Also, the more we learn, evolve and grow, the more we realize to which extent our knowledge and understanding are limited. Each window leads to 5 other doors. It is an endless game but may be the only game worth playing. I believe that this insight and acceptance is the true liberation.
It is time to let go of any attachment, to accept the fact that it will never be enough and that we will never know or understand everything we are perceiving, thinking about, or interacting with.
It's the nature of our world, our personal growth, and maybe also the nature of our human existence.
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