I want to keep learning forever.

"What's the point of studying literature?"

This is what an interviewer said to me
during my job hunting days as a new graduate.
Setting aside the fact that there are still interviewers who would say such a thing in this day and age,
I immediately thought to myself at the time:

"This person is pathetic..."

Even though they were in a fairly high-ranking position within that company.

I don't think you study because it's useful for something.
Of course, having a goal and studying toward it is a very good thing.
But I don't think that's everything.

I mean, you can live your life just fine without knowing most of what you study.

You can go visit Horyu-ji Temple without knowing it's the oldest building in Japan.
You can see a rainbow without knowing the mechanics behind it.
I doubt you'd have any trouble if you didn't know the phrase 'Meng Mu cuts the loom'.

But if you do know, your perspective changes.
Your horizons broaden.
Even when looking at the same thing, whether or not you have knowledge changes how you feel about it.

That's why I want to learn about many things.

Knowing things is fun. It's interesting.
That's why I study.
Is it wrong to learn something for that reason alone?

The reason I chose the Faculty of Letters was also because "it seemed interesting."
Because I liked writing. That's all there was to it.
I wasn't aiming to be a novelist, nor was I aiming to be a Japanese language teacher.

I think I rattled off some high-sounding, plausible reasons during the interview, but this is the true reason.

That interviewer also said things like,
"I study management which is useful, and that's all I'm interested in; you should study more things like that."
I think studying management is fun and interesting, too.
But to have your eyes fixed "only" on that is far too narrow-minded.
While mastering one thing is a good thing,
it is no reason to look down on other fields of study.

If someone were truly studying something thoroughly,
I don't think they would make such narrow-minded remarks,
so I just thought that this person probably only feels like they've studied.

Well, since studying is basically something you are "made to do" until high school,
I suppose it's inevitable that an attitude of wanting to learn something voluntarily doesn't develop.
There are many times when you realize the joy of learning only after becoming an adult.
I feel that the fact that so many adults say "I wish I had studied more" is proof of that.
It's not too late to start now!

There are infinite things in this world that I don't know.
I think it's impossible to know and understand everything.
Even so, I want to know as many things as I can.
I want to learn because it's fun.

That might be the only reason I'm glad I was born a human.

It's also a bad habit of mine that I get curious about this and that, and end up leaving many things half-finished.

I'm sure I will never stop learning.
Until the day this life ends.

Even so,
there are so many things I want to learn, so many books I want to read, and so many other things I want to do, that I don't have nearly enough time.
Is there any way to increase the amount of time I have?

The end