HOW I LEARNED

There are three basic ways to learn: formal education through schooling, knowledge acquired through reading books and other printed matter, and life experience through apprenticeship and “the street.” I utilized all three ways, but if I have to be honest, the best way for me to learn was through reading, a trait that I developed at a very young age.

Thanks to two loving parents who tried to provide me with all the best advantages that were available in my time and place—the working-class suburbs of southern Long Island in the 1960s and 1970s—I had and fully used many opportunities to learn. When I was 4, I began to read the Sunday New York Times, in those days a thick paper chock-full of diverse information about the world. I soaked it all up like a human sponge, which only increased my thirst for more, much more. Fortunately, I had first-class local libraries available to me, and I was the “nerd” who spent my afternoons and Saturdays there. This habit carried well over into the Internet Age, which began for me when I purchased my first computer—at age 39!

Television was also a big influence. While like every little boy I was drawn to the entertainment of the era—Saturday morning cartoons, Captain Kangaroo (I was too old by the time Sesame Street came along in ’69), I Love Lucy re-runs and action/adventure/sci-fi (Batman, Superman, Lost in Space, Star Trek, but Mission: Impossible was my favorite)—I tended toward serious dramas and the news, which in those days meant Walter Cronkite and political talk shows such as David Susskind and William F. Buckley. Don’t get me wrong, the public schools of Malverne, N.Y., that I attended were fine, and a couple of my teachers in high school were particularly inspiring, but really I am self-taught, right through college.

By observing others, first as a student, then as a teacher, and finally as an adult in several occupations and personal interactions, I have discovered that everyone learns at their own pace and level and that there is no one way to learn. Very few people are slow or stupid; it’s just that, in my view, there are severe gaps in their knowledge and exposure to others who are different from themselves. The one conclusion that I have drawn is that education is a wonderful thing, but knowledge is so much better, because it is the beginning of wisdom and empathy.