ON LEARNING

LEARNING

There is so much in life to learn, that there is no way that anyone studying a particular subject could ever conclude that he or she has learnt it all. Far more those who are novices at the subject.

I for one have spent life learning new subjects all of my life, scratching the surface of some new and interesting topic. That makes me jack of many trades and master of none. A complete novice at most things I do. But one thing is for sure, I realise that life has a lot to offer, and I feel therefore that I must learn, and never stop learning. I am humbled every day at the deficiencies in my own knowledge, which in total is not even a pinprick in the universe of knowledge, and certainly not visible to the eye. I could never boast that I am an expert in anything. But I enjoy the process of learning.

I also realise that those who really do know, are the humblest amongst us, and are the ones who relentlessly pursue new research projects, mostly primary research, endeavouring to discover something new. Something that has a chance of being useful to mankind.

I just watched a programme on Channel 4 where Alan Buckley, the archaeological chemist, recently mummified the Torquay taxi driver who donated his body for medical and scientific research. Buckley has been researching the subject for eight years and this gave him the opportunity to try out his theories on a human. Mummifying as the ancient Egyptians did was a secret. No record or writings are found, which tells anything about what methods, chemicals or other substances they used in the process.

The programme was fascinating!