Immersion

Immersion…

It’s the way I learn best. In a highly informal poll of other INFP’s it seems that it is the way most of us learn best.

I’ve been asked many times before. How do you focus like that? Why do you become so consumed by what you are interested in to the exclusion of all else? How is it that you know all this?

I will admit, I am an information glutton. I will gorge myself on everything I can get my hands on if a topic interests me. It is what makes me good at my job in Tech Support. I may not have every answer off the top of my head, but I have a huge base of information to draw corollaries from. Things aren’t quite working right, but this is similar to another problem I’ve had or read about over there somewhere. Allowing a gut faith leap of faith to the solution, I am more often correct than not.

At one time books were my friends. I would read 3 to 6 a week if they were popcorn, perhaps 2 if they were dense texts. Page after page would be consumed stored away, for recall later. In high school I discovered that I had near perfect recall of text on a page, if I could only remember the page number it was on. This talent has since faded with time and disuse. Now I am more likely to pull my information from the net, blogs, websites, feeds.

Books have fallen by the wayside the last 10 years or more in my life. With near instantaneous access to depths of information on obscure topics there is a feast of facts on which to gorge upon. This makes the ready task of information immersion that much easier. Opening the pores to absorb everything that comes your way. Sure there are problems with this. Things aren’t fact checked; you need to be careful as to who your sources are. Still, on this wild web spanning the globe you will find pockets of information, people, who know their subject, willing to accept another into the fold.

I find though that as I’ve grown older I begin to miss the feel, the smell, and the weight of a bound paper book. I blame going back to school, leaving the business degree I had been following and falling into the English program for that. A homecoming of sorts, the feel of paper, the rustle of a turning page, reminding me of a long ago dream.

I had once wanted to be a Renaissance Man, a polymath. One who would have read everything ever published. To have within the gray folds of my brain the sum knowledge of all that had come before. Of course it isn’t practical or even remotely possible anymore. The last men alive that could honestly lay claim to that title would have likely been Milton, perhaps Goethe. The sum of all our knowledge has grown larger than any one person can contain anymore.

Immersion. Diving deep into the well of knowledge, grasping the elusive ideas, facts, knowledge and rocketing to the surface with rare jewels. Correlating barely related things, seeking connections, flashes of insight, understanding.

Perhaps inside many INFP’s want to be Buckaroo Banzii, Rock Star, Brain Surgeon, Race Car Driver, savior of our dimension. After all, it’s all in the books, waiting to be pieced together. Focus learning, immersion, isn’t bad. It’s one of the most beautiful ways to learn things. It feels good to get it, to grasp the concept, to understand when the gray mists are swept clear.

Give it a try if you are passionate about something. You might be surprised at what you can accomplish.