I have been reflecting on what it means to learn. Why do people learn? Is it to overcome our own ignorance, or is it because it is a necessity for living in society? If we speak of overcoming ignorance, learning becomes a process without limits. Certainly, there is no definitive end to learning in one’s life. However, if the sole purpose were the eradication of ignorance, one could argue that it wouldn’t matter what we learn. In that case, where does the necessity come from? Similarly, if we say we learn because it is necessary for social existence, that necessity is not always apparent at the moment of learning. If we learn simply because we “don’t know,” we are faced with infinite subjects and no axis of choice. If we learn because of “necessity,” it is difficult to judge that need amidst the uncertainties of the future.
I began to think that perhaps learning is a collaborative process with “the other” in an attempt to fill a void. Every existence is composed of the presence and absence of being, or the self and the other. That is to say: me, and someone or something other than me. My existence as “me” is only possible because there is someone or something else that is “not me.” If there were nothing in this world but myself, then everything would be filled with my existence; not only would there be no one else, but there wouldn’t even be a space filled with air. Of course, such a thing is impossible.
When learning is a collaborative effort with others to fill a void, this “void” represents everything other than oneself. It includes not just the air-filled space, but every person and object within that space. There is the “me” that partially fills this world, and then there is the part not filled by me—that is the void.
Is learning not an engagement with this void, an effort to fill it? Each of us tries to fill our respective voids. However, both I and those other than me have our own distinct outlines. If this process were egoistic and solitary, it would be nothing more than an expansion of the self. On the other hand, when it becomes a collaborative effort, it transforms into communication or academia.
When this act of filling the void involves collaboration with others, I, as a human being, begin to shape the contours of my existence. This takes the form of interactions with people through dialogue, or perhaps even conflict. It might also be an exchange with animals, such as livestock or pets. By touching an existence other than our own and receiving some form of response, we come to know the movements of our own hearts and the hearts of others. Conversation is a prime example of such an endeavor.
This process is not simply about “sharing” something. Sharing is a retrospective result. Collaborative work, conversely, is possible even without something to share. Of course, there is the common goal of trying to fill the void. Yet, this is not an intentionally shared objective, but a necessity born from engaging with the void. It is a collaborative effort that arises inevitably because there is something shared or common—not for the sake of sharing itself. It stems from our incompleteness as beings—the room for a void. This is precisely why learning is an endeavor directly linked to the very act of living.
