1. Dierks asked:

If you think of lifelong learning, is it acceptable not to participate in lifelong learning?

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There is a remark that was once attributed to the eminent Dr Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol
College and translator of Plato's Dialogues:

I am the Master of this College

And what I don't know isn't knowledge.

It is not necessary for a person to believe that they know everything that is worth knowing, in order for
them to feel - perhaps at a certain time of their life - that they have had their fill of knowledge and
learning. Nor need this be a matter of glorifying in one's ignorance. It is simply the realization that one
has reached a comfortable plateau. - Is that a justifiable attitude?

In an age is one that has made a god of the ideal of personal growth, the view I have just expressed
is often regarded with scornful disdain. One is 'never too old to learn'. Now the evening classes are
packed with old folk learning Herbal Remedies and History, Indian Cuisine and Italian. I think that's
great. But I have no criticism to make of those who choose to stay at home.

From a practical standpoint, we are told that today's job market makes emphasizes the need for
continual re-training throughout one's working life. One cannot count any more on following a single
career path. - I have lost count of the number of times I have heard that apology for wage slavery.

But, yes, I believe in lifelong learning. What I would seriously question is the view that the value or the
cause of lifelong learning is somehow compromised if some persons refuse to jump on board.

Geoffrey Klempner