In a World Where Everyone Knows Everything, I’d Rather Keep Learning
(Leia em 🇧🇷Português aqui)
Imagine a world where everyone knows everything.
No unanswered questions. No mysteries to unravel. No wondering how something works or why people do what they do. At first glance, it might sound ideal: free from confusion, equipped with all the answers. But for someone like me, it would feel… empty.
You see, love of learning and curiosity are two of my top character strengths. They're not just personality traits, but part of how I experience joy, meaning, and connection in the world. When I encounter something I don’t understand, whether it’s a scientific concept, a new culture, or even the subtle emotional shifts in a conversation, my first instinct isn’t frustration: it’s excitement. Here’s something I get to explore.
When I was 7 years old, my best friend wasn’t a person: it was the Enciclopédia Conhecer. The Brazilian version of Milan’s Enciclopedia Conoscere (1958), published in weekly installments and sold at newsstands, became my window to the world.
Every morning, I’d wake up at 5 a.m. to watch TeleCurso, the distance-learning program launched in 1978 in Brazil. Yes, that's what I used to do!
For me, learning wasn’t a chore. It was joy. It was discovery. It was happiness.
In a world where everyone knows everything, where would wonder go?
For me, learning is more than a process. It’s a way of being. I don’t just want to accumulate knowledge for the sake of knowing. I want to be moved by it. To follow a spark of curiosity down a rabbit hole, to sit with a question longer than is comfortable, to have my assumptions gently (or not-so-gently) challenged.
There’s a deep and quiet happiness I feel when I learn something new. Not because it makes me smarter or more accomplished, but because it makes the world feel more alive: more layered, more surprising, more interconnected.
Learning keeps me humble and hopeful. It reminds me that there’s always more to discover, more to understand, more to grow into. It keeps me connected to others, too, because asking questions opens the door to listening, and listening opens the door to empathy.
So in that imaginary world where everyone knows everything, I’d choose to be the one who doesn’t. The one still asking. Still exploring. Still lighting up when someone teaches me something I hadn’t known before.
Because that’s where I find happiness. And honestly, I’d rather keep learning.
What’s something that made you curious this week? I’d love to hear about it.
