Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Oh, the Places We'll Go!

Embracing lifelong curiosity keeps us sharp, young, and fully alive—even in an age of artificial intelligence

By André van Heerden, Communications Director

I recently remembered advice I heard over 35 years ago. As my parents dropped me off at Carleton University, my father said, “You’re here to learn, not find a job. Learning will improve your life. The rest will take care of itself.”

Now, I’m passing the same advice on to my own children. It stayed with me because it did three things: it gave me focus, took the pressure off worrying about what came next, and made me excited about learning itself.

In the popular children’s book, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!, Dr. Seuss wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

That idea has followed me through school, work, family life, and career changes. My father’s wisdom still holds true.

If you’ve ever attended a convocation ceremony, you’ve likely seen a few silver-haired graduates cross the stage. They often receive the loudest applause and wear the biggest smiles, but what stands out most is the sparkle in their eyes—a telltale sign of curiosity still burning bright. Politician Joseph Addison once said, “What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul.”

No matter our age or trade, there’s always something new to explore. I’ve coached youth soccer for over 30 years, and many of the same drills I teach beginners are used by my older players. They may execute them faster and with better technique, but they’re still learning. Even after decades, I still discover new nuances in those simple drills. Learning never stops; it deepens.

Lately, I’ve also been thinking about how artificial intelligence might affect learning. When we can get instant answers to nearly anything, will we still stretch our minds?
Blues legend B. B. King once said, “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.”

But what if we hand it away ourselves?

We learn best when wrestling with uncertainty—when we research, make mistakes, and work through them. But if AI does all that for us, what happens to our curiosity?

Author and futurist Douglas Rushkoff warned that AIs may not dominate us by replacing humans, but by “annihilating our will.”

Writer Shane Snow echoed this concern: “The real danger of AI is that it can do so much thinking for us that we might stop making decisions for ourselves.”

It’s hard not to remember the funny yet disquieting scenes from the movie WALL-E, where humans live in space without the need to do anything because technology does it for them. They live in comfort, their bodies and minds dulled by overdependence on technology. The outcome isn’t progress. It’s stagnation.

No matter what tools or technologies we have, we must remain learners if we want to live full and meaningful lives. Education isn’t only about degrees, credentials, or job readiness.

It’s about curiosity, growth, and joy in discovery itself.

We shouldn’t let AI have all the fun. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Oh, the Places We'll Go!

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