Do Yourself a Favor and Stop Learning

It’s true — we learn far more than we are ever able to use…. This may seem harmless, but does it, in fact, hinder our ability to produce? Does all this learning and all the attention span we spend on new technologies detract from what we should be doing in the here and now? How many applications have gone unwritten because we think some new technology will obviate them in the next few months? How many ideas languish because we’re playing around with the new hyper-whizzbang protocol, convinced that this is the solution to our problems and will make every application fly off our keyboard with ease? — DeaneDo Yourself a Favor and Stop Learning (Gagetopia)

This article is written for an audience of geeks. It’s not so much an anti-intellectual diatribe as it is a reminder that having great ideas is not enough, since the business world demands practical results.

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  • Actually, I used to frequent Vocabula Review back when it was free... several times I've pondered actually subscribing to it. Some time ago I blogged a National Post article called "Reading Anxiety," about what happens to you when you realize you will never live long enough to read all the books in your library. Unfortuantely, that link is dead.

    Thanks for the comment, oldtimey.

  • This peripherally reminds me of a great article by Joseph Epstein called "No Opinion" -- it's at vocabula at http://www.vocabula.com/2003/VRJULY03Epstein.asp (originally in The Weekly Standard, original date of article, July 7, 2003, copyright News America Incorporated). "...more and more things crop up on which I, too, feel having an opinion unnecessary," he says. Wonderful. (If you don't happen to subscribe to vocabula, email me and I will share my login so you can read it!)

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Dennis G. Jerz

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