I'm reading a summary (
http://historyofmodernphilosophy.blogspot.com/2008/07/john-locke.html) of Western Philosophy and came across his work, I am familiar with Tabula Rasa but I never really paid much more attention to it, for me it seemed pretty evident. What's interesting is that Muslims should in fact be rationalists, because Fitra is supposed to be innate, babies from all over the World should know about Allah. Question is how come people have different perspectives on Allah even within their own community? Some have a view of Allah that is very stern, and other, see him as very gentle.
Even more interesting is that when you read about his work on Wiki you come to find out that John Locke was influenced by a Muslim philosopher in regards to Tabula Rasa.
A 17th century Latin translation Philosophus Autodidactus (published by Edward Pococke) of the Arabic philosophical novel Hayy ibn Yaqzan by the 12th century Andalusian-Islamic philosopher and novelist Ibn Tufail (known as "Abubacer" or "Ebn Tophail" in the West) had an influence on John Locke's formulation of tabula rasa in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Ibn Tufail demonstrated the theory of tabula rasa as a thought experiment through Hayy ibn Yaqzan in which he depicted the development of the mind of a feral child "from a tabula rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society" on a desert island, through experience alone.[2]
But according to Islam, again, Fitra is innate.
Now to my questions, I'm wondering how John Lock's essay has developed? How is it regarded today, in terms of learning? What is new in this field?
My second question is how do we learn? And how do we learn best? By reading widely and thinking deeply (quote from Jesus and Mo comic)?
For instance, in the Matrix, Neo learns marital arts by being connected to a computer. I suppose that in the film itself his brain memorizes the moves and trains him, it is a rather silly part of the film, you have to actually train the body, especially when instinctively we don't fight the way martial arts teaches you, that's why we have martial arts, to improve our fighting. You can't learn how to fight from a book, I don't think, not effectively at least. Furthermore there are other parts of fighting that you need to learn, like being relaxed and not tensing up. That also takes time and practice to learn, its counterintuitive in a state of fight or flight.
So instead say if he had learned the history of Martial arts, what would this mean? Did he learn deeply? No, I would say you learn best if you think deeply, it's like a martial arts work out but with ideas and facts. You learn even more when discussing ideas with others, you learn how to defend yourself, learn about your flaws and mistakes, in your thinking. Lastly, you probably learn a great deal about your OWN thinking when you teach others something. Unexpected questions can throw you off, parts that seem understandable to you turns out to be poorly structured.
I used to think what if I could have all the knowledge in the word, but I don't think we learn that way. We can memorize a great deal of information but we are only able to use that information effectively and practically when we reflect, discuss and explain.
For example children, learn very well at home not so well in school. Why? How do children learn? By watching adult and then imitating, and receiving feedback and improving their actions.
In order to learn, you must work out what you're learning, you must reflect, and discuss and explain (by writing it down for others to read for example) to simply read is not enough. It's just a start.
Oh and as a final note, a lot of the great Muslim scientists and philosophers came from Andalusia, they were in an environment where they could think freely, discuss, and share and criticize with impunity. It bothers me now if a muslim goes "Oh look at how we used to be! We used to be great! And now today we at the bottom of the barrel, crabs pulling each other down. It's probably because of colonialism and corruption of Islam."
Again we see we need to have an environment where thoughts are free, were thoughts can be discussed freely and challenged freely. It's the best way our kind learns. I hope that serves as a reminder for any that wish to suppress ideas.
Topic: John Locke - An Essay Concerning Human Understanding