Ok, a quick introduction to those who aren't familiar with my posts on Quora, Slashdot, Kuro5hin (RIP) or Technocrat (RIP).
I'm a geek. There's a surprise. I'm a geek who covers science, technology and the related humanities (mathematics, astronomy and archaeology). That's probably not that unusual, either. I do all the stuff geeks normally get up to (although I haven't LARPed since I lost my copy of the Spirit of Adventure rules), although planting a small woodland for the fun of it was probably a little unusual.
I was brought up on a hybrid of modern and Neo-Classical educational ideas, which has definitely influenced how I look at the whole issue of learning. Indeed, it influences how I think about most things. Ideas that stop making sense when you change perspective should be examined carefully in case they should never have made sense at all.
(For those not familiar with Neo-Classicism, it basically states that all divisions are artificial and that all subjects blend and interact. I think it was Heinlein who gave the laundry list of all the things a man should be able to do - that sort of multi/anti-disciplinary style is Neo-Classical thinking.)
I'm British and American, which creates something of a conflict. Those two philosophies are often highly opposed. They aren't just two nations separated by a common language, they're separated by a common ideology, too. This gives me no end of headaches.
Currently, I'm learning ancient Sumerian and Cisco routing. I'm not entirely convinced which is which. Given my childhood consisted of The Tomorrow People, Doctor Who, Children of the Stones, Sapphire & Steel, and The Tripods, not to mention the authors Mary Stewart (finished Crystal Cave when I was 6), Isaac Asimov, Fred Hoyle, Alan Garner and Arthur Waley's translation of Monkey, it's a wonder I can differentiate them at all.