Inspired by Ishmael...the Gorilla

The following are my thoughts and opinions. Some of them are based on things I’ve heard from reputable academic sources, others are just synthesized from my own thoughts. I started typing after reading the novel Ishmael (1992), by Daniel Quinn. In the book a man talks with a gorilla about what’s wrong with the world. The gorilla is named Ishmael. He can’t speak, but he is able to “talk” to the man’s mind. It is an interesting book to read, and while I don’t agree with the premise – what’s wrong with the world is that humans exist – I do appreciate the different perspective and I do agree with some of the ideas that are brought up along the way.


There are many different philosophies and theories about life and why the world is what it is, perhaps as many different views as there are different people. I believe that no two people can be exactly alike. Fingerprints are never two of a kind, and I don’t think perspectives can be either. They can be similar, perhaps fraternal, but never identical. I shouldn’t say never, I don’t like to deal in absolutes, they are beyond what I can safely defend or persuade in behalf of. I do think that individual circumstances (environment and experience, nature and nurture) make each person unique and individual when compared to every other person, or any other person. Taking it one step further, each person is uniquely individual when compared to their own self from any given moment to any other moment. There are many different perspectives, and I find many of them to be fascinating; I also find many to be frustrating. Most intriguing of all is that the most frustrating are often times the most fascinating.

I enjoy learning. New ideas, even the scary ones, are great. Challenge is the catalyst for progression, and I like to progress, or, to see progress in my life. Different ideas from those I hold to be the truth from my perspective challenge me. I have to look at what I believe from another angle, to weigh a new perspective against my own in the scales of conviction. There have been many times when I have weighed my perspective against the perspective of another and found mine to be wanting. This is how I have learned. Interestingly, I first had to have this type of experience to learn how to learn. When after discussing differing opinions with me, a friend suggested that my tone in discussion, my choice of words, and my presentation of my perspective were of such finality that I did not present myself as open and willing to listen to anything else. I struggled for a while with this critique, but I was able to appreciate the criticism and affect a change in my delivery. As my delivery changed, so too did my perspective. I learned to learn, which is to say, I learned that in order to learn I must accept that there is something I can learn, and that I can learn those things from anyone, at anytime, and from any experience. I probably never would have thought of myself as un-teachable prior to that path of enlightenment, but in many ways I was.

In addition to learning that I could find education from diverse and sometimes unexpected sources, I learned that realization of personal convictions and perspective is of primary importance. I may have an affinity for a particular activity, but if I never realize it then it doesn’t do me any good. I am a Christian. I accept the teachings of Jesus Christ and follow his admonition to try his words, to test and to prove his doctrine to verify its validity. I have learned as much about my beliefs from people with different views of faith and religion as I have from those of the same faith and religion as me. I have learned to be a Christian equally from Christians and non-Christians alike. This comes from being able to recognize that learning comes from everywhere, and from being humble and teachable. Though I thought I was open in discussions with my friend, she felt that I wouldn’t allow for any possible explanation or philosophy outside of my own tightly held beliefs. Because of how I presented myself, I was not teachable. When I was able to overcome that wall I was holding up, I was able to be taught by her. She provided another perspective from which to view my own perspective, thereby allowing me an outside-in view of what I believed, or professed to believe in. This different perspective has helped me in cases since (and probably cases prior without me realizing it in this context) to study and reaffirm or dismiss personal philosophies, explanations, and beliefs.

One prime example of this pattern is simple, yet has had a long lasting and rather profound effect on me. I was once discussing snakes with one of my friends, one that I consider an informal mentor. I am not fond of snakes, never have been. I told him how I would kill snakes in my yard just at the sight of them. There seemed to be an instinctive aversion to the creatures. Though I knew the snakes were completely harmless to me, I killed them because they made me anxious. My friend thought this was deplorable and asked me how I, a self-proclaimed follower of Christ, could be a distributor of such wanton destruction of life. In that moment something clicked and I realized he was right. And in that moment I changed a little. I have never killed a snake since. This is a situation specific to me, it may or may not have any bearing on you, but for me it was a lasting lesson.

Education can come to us at any time, from anyone, and in any place. If we want to learn and gain wisdom it is for us to make ourselves teachable. Part of being teachable is preparing the mind for new information. Everyone has had the experience of not being able to recall some vital information at one time or another. Recall is the ability to retrieve information from memory. Remembering is something that I think we all do very well and without much conscious effort. Exceptions would be in cases of brain damage or in association with certain behaviors that might cause brain damage. But for most of us, the brain functions quite well and creates neural networks to encode information we obtain through our senses. Where we fail is in our ability to recall that information. This is why we need to prepare our minds. The neural pathways that store memories are like paths through the woods. The more you walk along a specific route, the more the way gets trampled down and becomes clear. The first few times you try to walk a path you might have a difficult time finding the exact same way. As you repeat the trip, and perhaps draw a map, it becomes more familiar to you and you can follow it with greater ease. If you then branch other trails off of it, or join existing trails to the new one, you find your ability to navigate the woods ever increasing. It takes repetition and familiarity.

Repetition and familiarity can prepare a mind or boost recall. In order to retrieve information you must do just that, retrieve information. Constant studying of topics you want to know well can serve as recall practice, as well as prepare the mind for new information. In the case of formal education it is easy to prepare, or prime, yourself to learn a topic. Read a book about cognitive psychology before taking the class. Outside of formal education it isn’t any more difficult to do, just to know when to do it. We don’t always know when specific educational experiences will present themselves, so it is hard to prime for them, but we can prime ourselves by constantly reading and learning about various things. I think that learning about anything will improve our ability to learn about something. But when you know a specific opportunity is on the way, start to research it. Here is where all of this gets tied together; more than one source of information helps you remember something so you can recall it with less effort at a later time. Just like having two perspectives in a conversation, looking at things from more than one source will aid in digestion of information.