‘Just as eating against one’s will is injurious to health, so study without a liking for it spoils the memory and retains nothing it takes in’

Leonardo Da Vinci c.1500

He may have been a great artist, inventor and the consummate renaissance man, but it appears that Leonardo Da Vinci was somewhat slack in other areas. Firstly, what is that he’s saying about eating? It seems a strange assertion. When my mother made me eat all the vegetables on my plate I was none too happy about it. In fact, this unwilling eating led to regular tantrums. But now I have a few hairs on my chest I can see that my health hasn’t been as adversely affected as Leonardo might have me believe. Maybe familial dinner table politics were somewhat more dangerous in renaissance Italy.

In terms of learning, schools days are ample example that we don’t have a liking for study but still retain and learn. Left to their own devices rather than chivvied by parents, would children voluntarily go to learn? We can only speculate as to the answer. The point is that often we are compelled and often coerced into learning when we are young yet it is ultimately beneficial to us though we don’t know it at the time. To progress, there is much study we don’t like that we have to get through.

Even when we have chosen to study by choice, like at university, there is often little recall of the facts and information imparted to us. Though I suspect here we are learning a way of thinking and approaching information rather than ‘useful’ knowledge that we will use later on. Studying only what one likes does not guarantee learning. Often it is the result of the study we want, we are actually not prepared to put in the hard work.

Do children and young people know what is best for them? Would they be limiting themselves is they only studied what they liked? These days it is difficult to tell people what is good or bad for them. But surely many of us are thankful for having done something that we originally didn’t want to do. Though anecdotes are poor proofs, I can think of several situations where I am incredibly thankful now for being forced to learn something I was unwilling to when younger. Perhaps the problem is finding someone with the authority and someone we trust to know what is best for us.

Having said this, some of what Da Vinci says rings true. The classic example in my case is having to learn Latin in school. I’m sure many remember reciting by rote verb conjugations like mantras, amo, amass, amat, amatus... But what on earth does any of it mean to me now? I can’t say I liked it – bar some brilliant Roman myths – and sure enough have retained next to nothing. What remains of that Latin has little meaning. Whether it has spoiled my memory I can’t say. Some might say so.

The point here is twofold. Firstly, because a ‘great’ figure says it, it doesn’t mean it’s true. Although this quote from Da Vinci, though not widely cited, has survived several centuries, it is still a questionable (just like the thoughts contained in these few paragraphs) statement. Secondly, we shouldn’t automatically consider doing things against our will as negative. A healthy glow from eating those once hated vegetables is proof enough.

18 May 2009