Excerpts from Encouraging Learning by Xunzi

translated from Chinese by George Rao

The Virtuous Gentlemen say: "Learning cannot stop."
Deep blue is taken from blue, yet it is bluer than blue.
Ice is made up of water, yet it is colder than water.
Wood is straight; it fits the rope.
Bend it to form a wheel; its curve fits the compass.
Although it dries, it doesn't re-straighten.

The bending made it natural.
Wood is measured with a rope, then it is straight.
Metal is sharpened, then it is sharp.
The Virtuous Gentleman is richly educated,

and three times a day he examines himself.
Then he knows the clarity and has no mistakes in his actions.
I often think deeply the entire day,

but this is not as good as the learning of a moment.
I often stand on my toes and gaze,

but this is not as good as the vast view of climbing high.
When climbing high and waving, one's arm is not increased in length,

but the viewers are farther away.
When calling along the wind, one's sound is not increased in speed,

but the audience is more wide.
Those who employ horses in carriages have no advantage in foot,

yet they can go one thousand miles.
Those who employ oars in boats may not be able to swim,

yet they can travel the rivers.
The Virtuous Gentlemen are not born different.

It is their ability to employ things.
Accumulate dirt to form a mountain; the wind and rain flourish.
Accumulate water to form a lake; the dragon is born.
Accumulate kindness to form virtue, and the divine clarity comes naturally.

The sacred state of mind is equipped.
If one does not accumulate half-steps, he cannot go one thousand miles.
If small streams are not accumulated, they have no way to become an ocean.
When an excellent horse leaps, it cannot go the distance of ten steps.
Harness ten inferior horses. The power is in not giving up.
Carve and give up; you cannot harm rotten wood.

Carve and not give up; you can engrave metal and rock.
Worms have not the sharpness of claws and teeth,
nor the strength of muscle and bone.
Above, they eat dirt. Below, they drink groundwater.
They are focused.
Crabs have six legs and two pincers.
But without the holes dug by snakes, they are homeless.
They are aimless.

Is Studying Required Subjects Truly Important?

In this world, we are all taught that learning math is very important. But how is it different from learning to sew?

In a mandatory math class, an aspiring tailor asks, "Why am I learning math? I want to be a tailor when I grow up." The accepted consensus is that sewing incurs expenses, making math an indispensable tool.

Now, let's imagine an alternate world in which learning to sew is required in the school system. In a mandatory sewing class, an aspiring mathematician asks, "Why am I learning to sew? I want to be a mathematician when I grow up." The accepted consensus is that sewing together parallel and perpendicular strings builds an intuition in geometry.

In each world, students learn a skill not because they have an interest in it, but because the skill will help them in other subjects.

So is studying the skill really important? No.

Is studying anything important? Yes. But only in the sense that we study it based on our interests.

An Ergonomic Phone

So far, most mainstream phone designs focus on beauty. But when a person uses a phone, he doesn't care about what his phone looks like, because he is looking at the display. He cares about the way the phone feels in the hand. This is why a phone that focused on ergonomics would be ideal. For an example, let's see how the iPhone 6's design could be changed to feel better in the hand.

Lose the aluminum. After Steve Jobs died, the designers at Apple started to make aluminum phones. But the iPhone 6 is slippery because of the aluminum. I prefer the design of the iPhone 4. The stainless steel sides gave it a premium feel, while the glass back made the phone shiny but at the same time gave it traction. But because glass can be shattered easily, let's change the glass into Kevlar. The Kevlar would give the phone a good grip and a premium feel, but wouldn't feel cold.
Glass front, steel sides, Kevlar back.

Round out the back. When the user holds the iPhone 6, he doesn't actually hold the phone. He holds the sides of the phone. Because a hand's relaxed position is curved, a flat phone back just doesn't make sense. The Moto line of smartphones have a curved back. Sure, they wobble on a table, but they fit better in the hand, making the phones more comfortable to use.
Round back.

Lose the aluminum and round out the back, because a phone is not something to look at and appreciate. It's a utility.