Heraclitus wrote in one of his fragments:

This quote is the essence of what I mean by “ever be the student.”

Breaking down the quote, though, may help us gain a deeper understanding of learning and ourselves. For starters, “whoever cannot seek,” may be updated today to include those who simply do not seek. I think we are so wrapped up in our screens and digital worlds, consumed by entertainment and mindless self-indulgence, that we fail to seek learning or understanding. We scroll and enjoy the momentary blips, unreflective and largely unconscious of what’s taking place.

Seeking “the unforeseen” implies the potential, possible, and uncertain. A wonderful demonstration of potential and what’s possible in the unforeseen is Umberto Eco’s library. He famously had thousands of books, many of which he had not yet read. Eco, a polymath and prodigious writer, believed the unread books held value beyond the ones he had read.

Nassim Taleb described Eco’s collection as an “antilibrary,” the value lying in pages unturned and accumulating dust. An ironic way of thinking, hence the “anti.” The unread books will “look at you menacingly,” writes Taleb. The unforeseen looks at us, saying, “pick me up, read me, be curious, learn something new.” Yet, if we don’t seek the unforeseen (or read, for that matter), we only see the status quo, the un-reflected, or worse, nothing, as Heraclitus suggests.

The “unforeseen” contrasts with the “known way,” the well-trodden path. Again, I’ll use the term “status quo” because I think it bears on the essence of learning. I see so many people, whether in the martial arts or in higher education, who do not seek to learn but have their already-formed ideas confirmed. They bring their “known way” to the classroom or the dojo, thinking it is good enough already and should be rewarded. This thinking says, “I’ll show up to get the piece of paper (or belt) and then get on with my life.”

Learning implies change, whether this is a change in memory, attitude, thinking, or behavior. Learning is extending or moving beyond the known way. Yet, too often, we let the known way be “an impasse,” an obstacle or hurdle to our progress. We do not seek the unforeseen because we assume the known way is good enough (hence the status quo). Perhaps it is—for this time and place. What happens when things change and we have not changed with them?

Heraclitus is most notably associated with the idea that no person stands in the same river twice, since the river flows and is not the same river, and since the person changes constantly. Ever being the student means embracing this endless flux, seeking the unforeseen, getting off the beaten path to pave new trails.

I challenge you not to let the known way become an impasse. Read a book. Find a teacher. Ask more questions. Whatever your method of letting the obstacle become the way, ever be the student.  

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