Inspiration is the keystone of learning. It’s the engine behind a student’s motivation and the glue that makes ideas stick.

When the pain of the status quo hurts more than the pain of discipline, people are capable of extraordinary feats of learning. 

Even if some of the best feats of learning happen in Survival Mode, it can create resentment if sustained for a long time.

School, for example, is built on Survival Mode. Fear is created with exams, essays, and the carrot of a college diploma at the end of it all.

If we want an educated citizenry that enjoys learning, we need an alternative: we need to inspire people. 

Enjoyable learning begins with inspiration—both to get you started and to help you push through the struggles of knowledge acquisition.

Inspiration is a uniquely human experience because it isn’t motivated by mere survival. It transcends the world of needs and lives in the world of wants. By doing so, inspiration stirs the mind. It’s no coincidence that the etymology of inspire is linked to “the breath of life.”

Blinded by age, we can turn to cold rationality, valuing only what we can define and prioritize only what we can measure.

This kind of inspiration is born out of a kind of enthusiasm where the more you learn, the more you want to learn. As you acquire skills, you realize that perfection isn’t a summit you reach, but an asymptote you continually strive for.

Reading science fiction doesn’t guarantee innovation, but it can inspire it. Likewise, inspiration doesn’t guarantee knowledge, but it moves the people who pursue it relentlessly.

Inspiration is also hard to define. Even the most inspired people can’t always define the edges of their own interests—let alone explain them to others.

schools should embrace entertainment because it lets you scale inspiration

Historically, educators have run away from entertainment because they assume it will lead to amusement.

Their storytelling philosophy is among the most effective tools we’ve invented for inspiring people at scale, which is why a popular documentary will spark more interest in a subject than the best textbooks ever will.

The biographer David McCollough once said: “Attitudes aren’t taught. They’re caught.” 

Just as a good writer takes responsibility for making their ideas clear, a good teacher takes responsibility for inspiring their students.

From Feynman, I’ve learned that context is the intellectual glue that makes ideas stick. Even physics, which impacts every waking second of our lives, needs to be made relevant with stories, metaphors, and examples.

People don’t care about adverbs; they care about being respected by their readers. People don’t care about commas; they care about publishing a piece of writing that warms them with pride.

As with a Feynman lecture or my friend’s little brother, you have to start with something catchy. Otherwise, you risk the toils of Survival Mode.