Passing Knowledge ....

Why are we here?

This is one of the classic philosophical questions.

Well, according to the precepts of evolutionary biology, the answer is simple - we are here to pass on our genes - to have children, who inherit our genetic traits - and in turn pass their genetic traits on to their children. The same goes for all life-forms; but to what end? That is another question - one I’ll leave for others to comment on.

But here’s a thought … something that I have come to appreciate over the past 10-15 years or so … we are also here to pass on ideas. We pass on our genes though our children - but each of us also has the potential to pass on our ideas, our thoughts, our knowledge, to countless others; to hundreds, to thousands, to tens of thousands of people. In the overall scheme of things, I feel this is a powerful analogue to the biological reason for our existence; and it is a large part of the reason, that I am so very passionate about teaching (to the extent that I can) as many people as I am able to reach. Every single one of us, has the same potential to pass on what we know to others … a reason to become the very best teachers we can, for future generations. And this alone, is reason enough, to put everything we can into developing our teaching capabilities … it’s absolutely unacceptable to me, that we content ourselves with just going through the motions. teaching, to me, is a big part of what life is all about. JBW