What lies behind the Aha!

Everyday, we are faced with so much information. Every single little thing that sensed by our senses is processed by the most sophisticated processor ever: Brain. Well, actually, every living thing has a brain, too. Even though the forms and shapes are different, the function is the same: central processing unit a.k.a CPU., range from the simplest creature, such as bacteria till the most complicated creature, mammals. Then, here comes another question, what makes Human (-according to Darwinian, is classified as mammals) different from other creature????

Physically, you can find many features that makes human is not a mammal. I am not a biologist, but at least, have learnt some. There is one documentary film that, I think has a very funny way of differentiating human from other animal, let’s say pig, or tomatoes (it happens in the film). Human has a special brain (cephalon or something like that) and the opposable thumbs!

Ough, forget about the brain thing. In one blog, my friend said that human is a learning creature. He has a better explanation on how many nerves working in our brain, how our brain sends the data and electrical waves so that any information can be process in a surprisingly quick way. This blog is not meant to talk more about biological things of human, but more about human ability as a mankind.

Human has a skill to receive, store, analyze and process any stimulus he gets. Human develop a complicated language. Human has the ability to perceive, and the process of decision making is superbly quick. We learn from our surrounding and always curious and will never stop to satisfy the curiosity. Another thing is, human has the ability to invent and develop, in terms of intelligence and civilization.

Another great thing human possesses is the INSIGHT, the ability to recognize his own mind, to give meaning to every experience, to make improvement and to have a new understanding.

I myself am also a learner (which indicates that I am still a human). I learn from many things (read: media). Maybe, when I talk about learning, most people will think of going to school or university, reading textbooks and doing assignments. Well, that is what we called formal learning system, isn’t it? Again, thank to human who has ability to create such a system so that all people can learn. But, what about non-formal learning? Look around you, everything you see can teach you a lesson or two. Go to cinema and watch a film, you have just learnt something. Go to book store and read, you have learnt something. Listen to your favorite song, you have learnt something. Start browsing something on your internet browser, you have learnt something. Read a blog or two and you have learnt something.

Rene Decartes said “I think, therefore I am”. When you stop learning, you stop thinking then in the end, you stop living. Life will be flat and purposeless, or quoting Frankl “meaningless”. Therefore, never stop learning and thinking.

If you happened to pay attention on the title of this blog, you will see the word AHA. Actually, not only do human have insight. In fact, the word “aha” was spoken by a guinea pig Chimpanzee during the experiment on the insight. Even though, Chimpanzee is regarded as to have the closest feature with human, this fact is a bit ironical. Well, during the experiment, a Chimpanzee was put in a cage. Hanging on the ceiling was banana, high enough not to be reached by its hand. Near the Chimps, laid an extendable stick, but was set at its shortest form. As the hunger come, the Chimps intended to eat. With the stick, it tried hard to hit the banana. However, the stick was not long enough. After several tiring tries, the Chimps became frustrated. It throwed the stick at the right angle so that it extended. Happy with this finding, the Chimps reflectively shouted “AHA”.

Whew, what long introduction! Actually, this is a background of the creation of this blog: to give an AHA to the readers. Some of you may think, why bother to give such a long prolog. Well, for me, it is another way of learning.