The 21st Century Literate

A story was once told of a boy who visited a Kung Fu master in hopes of becoming his student. The master being a busy man, the boy had to wait for the him to come out. So the boy sat and waited patiently. Finally, the master came out. 'What do you want?' he asked the boy who was already tired at this time. 'I have been practicing Kung Fu for 10 years. I would like to become your student and practice kung fu with you.' he answered. The master then asked him to come inside with him. How much Kung Fu do you know? The boy gave him a full presentation of all of the moves and forms and styles that he’s devoted his life to. But the master listened attentively, even nodding his head. 'Ok, I will teach you Kung Fu' said the master and this got the boy excited. But first, you have to pass one test. The boy became nervous. He has been waiting for this moment for years and he started to mentally preparing himself for the biggest test of his life. He decided to demonstrate his leopard-kung fu style in hopes of appeasing the master. Then the master got a cup of tea for the boy and filled it up to the brim. Once the cup was full, the master kept pouring more tea until the cup is absolutely full to the brim.

Now for test is for the boy to pour more tea into the cup without letting it flow over, then he would have passed the test. The boy’s eyes widened and his shoulders tensed. He thought he would have to show off his moves, but not pour tea. What was this crazy test?! He knew there was no way to add more tea to the cup…even one more drop would be too much. He was devastated. 'Master, it’s impossible!' he exclaimed . I cannot add more tea to the cup. The Master replied:

Your mind is like this cup, full of ideas and “knowledge.” I can’t teach you anything because your mind is already full.Go, empty your cup and then come back to me. Then and only then can I teach you.

Lesson of the story is this:
The 21st century literate must be ready to learn, unlearn and relearn.