One of the biggest complaints I remember my classmates making in school was that we were always forced to memorize endless facts. Rather than getting hands-on lessons with real-world applications, we were expected to remember dates, names and places without enough context to understand their significance. To this day, I can tell you that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. But can I explain what that actually means? Absolutely not.
Nowadays, however, it’s easy for adults to go months without learning anything new. Sure, you’ll read what’s going on in the news. But you might not be learning any new skills or information that’s actually useful. In this case, fun facts can be a wonderful way to get some new knowledge into your routine. They’re digestible, don’t take much time, and they can be used as wonderful conversation starters!
Learning facts may not be as engaging as learning a new skill, such as how to play an instrument or how to speak another language. But it still has benefits! According to Kaplan, we must remember that knowledge really is power. The more you know, the better your problem solving and reasoning skills will become.
Knowledge is also cumulative. So once you get that snowball of learning rolling, it’ll become even easier to pick up more information. Plus, when you have more context for the information you learn, you’ll be able to make connections more easily. For example, if you know what was going on in one part of the world during the 1850s, finding out what was happening in another country might make even more sense.
Acquiring more knowledge is also a great way to keep your brain active. Americans currently spend an average of five hours and 16 minutes on their phones every single day. And unfortunately, most of that time probably isn’t spent learning new skills and improving cognitive function. So it’s great to break the routine and make an effort to spend some time each day learning fun facts. This information will actually make you think, and it’s a much better way to spend your time than scrolling through brain rot content.
You’re never too old to learn something new. In fact, it’s best if you continue learning something new every single day, even when you’re old and gray! So if you need some tips on how to be a lifelong learner, Vox has got you covered. First, they recommend constantly going out of your way to challenge yourself. Obviously, this won’t be easy. But when you put yourself in new situations, you’re forced to learn new things, often rather quickly.
Another tip Vox shared is capitalizing on the skills you already have. You don’t have to start from scratch just to prove to yourself that you can. If you already know how to play one instrument, it might be easier to pick up another than learning a foreign language from square one. In the same vein, if you grew up playing tennis, it might be easier to learn how to play padel than basketball. You’ll still be learning something new, but you might find the experience more enjoyable than starting at 0.
Now, if you really want to retain the information that you’ve acquired, you’re going to have to use it. Vox suggests practicing retrieval exercises, which allow you to recall and reflect on information that you’ve learned. “Sometimes we focus on getting information into our heads, like watching videos, going to lectures,” cognitive scientist Pooja Agarwal told Vox. “Where the magic happens with learning is getting information out of our heads."
