There’s an old saying that goes “You learn something new every day.”

Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t learn anything new, for days, even years at a time. This makes us all not only ignorant, but complacently so.

Try making a point of learning something new every day. This doesn’t have to mean taking classes or going to a lot of exertion (although both might well be a good idea to meet the goal). It can be as simple as hearing the name of an unfamiliar place on the news, and looking that place up on a map. There, now you know something you didn’t know before. It can be as simple as finding a “word of the day” web site and checking it. The main idea is to make sure that every day, you acquire some kind of knowledge that you didn’t have the day before.

Learning something new can be as easy as changing channels. Many Sunday newspapers print TV listings for the week. Take the listings, and start looking at the channels you don’t ordinarily watch. Look for the ones that are full of educational content: PBS, History Channel, Discovery Channel, TLC, BBC America, National Geographic Channel… you get the idea. Find at least one show that would teach you something you didn’t already know. If it’s on at the same time as something you regularly watch, or at a time when it’s inconvenient for you to watch, record the show. Then, of course–make sure you make time to watch what you recorded.

Here are some suggestions, but I’m sure you can find plenty of others when you look.

PBS:

• Nova
• Nature
• American Experience
• Wired Science
• Globe Trekker

Discovery Channel:

• Planet Earth
• How It’s Made
• Mythbusters

Food Channel:

• Unwrapped
• The Secret Life of…

History Channel:

• Modern Marvels (also on National Geographic Channel)
• The Universe
• Wild West Tech
• Ancient Discoveries

National Geographic Channel:

• Lost Worlds
• Is It Real?
• Naked Science
• National Geographic Explorer
• Science of…

TLC:

• Little People, Big World
• What Not To Wear
• Clean Sweep

BBC America:

• BBC World News

All those shows are designed to be both entertaining and informative. Learning something new doesn’t have to be a chore. Give it a try–make it a habit.

Hope you'll recommend my posts via your favorite social media. Just don't copy the material as your own.