🐼 You are like an AI experiment.
Constantly learning from your surroundings…
Heyaa
Would you believe me if I say my current fav YouTuber is a kid… a 4 yo kid? Not a clumsy little kid on some viral YT Shorts, but someone who seems mature for her age. Childish but understanding, sensible and empathetic.
This vlogging channel is about Japanese culture overall. The host is a lady named Moe. But her curious kid, Sutan, is everyone’s fav. I definitely watch the videos for Sutan.
Moe shows how to cook dishes from Japanese cuisine. Sutan assists her.
Moe instructs Sutan now and then and teaches her a few things on the way. And sometimes Sutan takes on tasks voluntarily. She’s good at cracking eggs, by the way.
As I watched the videos randomly - some two years old, some from recent months - I noticed something peculiar about humans. About patterns, languages and vocabs… and about me, too.
It was a realization…
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OK, back to my story…
The thing is… we’re continuously learning.
Your environment is shaping your thoughts with each passing moment.
For example, most of Moe’s videos are in her native Japanese language (with subtitles). View bits and phrases are in English, too. But not a lot.
And in some recent videos, Sutan welcomed viewers just like her mother does. It’s flawless. It doesn't seem practiced or rehearsed. It’s as if she has been the host of the channel all these days.
Actually, Sutan picks up patterns. She watches her mother’s movements, listens to her, and sometimes repeats phrases she says. Some Japanese, some English. And what she hears comes to her naturally.
This made me realize how we adapt to our cultures.
For example, in my region, the language of the masses is Bhojpuri (a variant of Hindi).
But I couldn’t converse in it until I was 20-22 yo (I’m 32 now). I had no exposure to Bhojpuri before that. At home, I used Bengali (my mother tongue). At school, everyone spoke in Hindi or English (with us kids, at least).
I heard Bhojpuri only in the occasional roadside banters of others.
It was never a part of me until I was 16-17 years old. When I was dropped into the real world. The world where I had to deal and negotiate with local people.
And in the last 10 years, I’ve gained a conversational-level mastery of Bhojpuri. Of course, I make mistakes. Often, people don’t understand what I’m trying to convey because I don't know the actual word. But usually, I’m fluent.
I never learned, practiced or trained in Bhojpuri, though. It came to me naturally as I spent more time in the environment.
And this isn’t a one-off incident.
You know, when I started writing, I mean professionally, I wasn’t proud of my vocab. I still am not, but I can conjure words more vividly now.
I’ve noticed that books, movies, web series and whatever are opportunities to learn and use words “in context.” They create an environment of subconscious learning.
I should say you are like an AI experiment. An experiment performed by you. You're constantly learning from your surroundings.
You have learned a lot of things, in fact. But each environmental change messes up the wirings. You remember only those things you've been regularly exposed to.
You can learn anything. But to be confident using it, you need the environment… An environment where you can subconsciously implement your learning.
So, if you have the urge to learn something, build an environment that facilitates the learning.
The more you have opportunities to stay with something, the better you get at it. Sometimes you practice, and at other times, it’s natural progress.
And that was all the rambling for today.
Bidding adieu.
Live long and prosper.
See you next week, with another story.