viduals, and by affirming the need for authority and hierarchi-
cal organizations to protect us.
Innovative learning is the primary means of exercising our
autonomy, a means of understanding and working within the
prevailing context in a positive way. It is a dialogue that begins
with curiosity and is fueled by knowledge, leading to under-
standing. It is inclusive, unlimited, and unending, knowing and
dynamic. It allows us to change the way things are.
In sum, we have the means within us to free ourselves from
the constraints of the past, which lock us into imposed roles
and attitudes. By examining and understanding the past, we can
move into the future unencumbered by it. We become free to ex-
press ourselves, rather than endlessly trying to prove ourselves.
In the same way, through the exercise of innovative learning,
we no longer follow along, but rather lead our own lives. We
do not accept things as they are, but rather anticipate things as
they can be. We participate in making things happen.
We shape life, rather than being shaped by it. This dictum is
borne out again and again.
In the early 1960s, Victor and Mildred Goertzel set out to
discover what several hundred successful men and women had
in common, and published their findings in Cradles of Eminence.
Their subjects ranged from writers and actors to politicians
and businessmen.
Their findings are instructive. Most of their subjects came
from small towns or villages. In almost every household, there
was a love of learning, “often accompanied by a physical exu-
berance and a persistent drive toward goals.” Half of the par-
ents were opinionated about controversial subjects. Nearly
half the fathers “were subject to traumatic vicissitudes in their
Knowing the World