The purpose of this essay is to set forth a special understanding of the nature and processes of human learning considered in and LDS frame of reference. We begin with a review of the theology essential to this topic.
The Nature of Man.
Man is a dual being. He has a spirit body into which he was begotten by our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. He has a physical body into which he was begotten by his earthly father and earthly mother. He received these two bodies that he might have the opportunity to learn to be like our heavenly parents.
The spirit body of man has two aspects important to note. One is the heart. The spiritual heart is the seat of the desires of a person, and from that heart come feelings and choices. The second aspect of the spiritual body is the mind. It is the business of the mind of man to perceive the world (to identify what is out there), to understand the world (to relate to things that are out there to each other), and to create options for action (different things the person can try in the attempt to fulfill the desires of the heart).
The physical part of man also has two main aspects important to note here. The first is the strength of the body. It is the movement of the body to act according to the choices of the heart in the paths or options created by the mind as translated to the physical body through the brain and nervous system of the physical body. One special part of this strength of the physical body is the power to beget children. The other main aspect of the physical nature of man is his might. Might is what a person influences or controls in the world outside of his body using words and his physical strength.
Man then has two natures, a spiritual one and a physical one. The essential aspects of these are his heart, his might, his mind, and his strength. The spiritual nature of man has a spiritual has a spiritual environment. In that environment, man’s spirit encounters the Spirit of the Lord, which entices him to do good; the spirit of Satan, which entices him to do evil; and the spiritual influence of other human spirits, which entice him to do good or evil, depending on whether the other human spirit has yielded to God or Satan. The physical nature of man has a physical environment. It contains other human physical bodies, plants, animals, the earth, and every other physical part of the universe which man can perceive.
Every man has a mortal life and a probation. The mortal life is the dwelling of his spirit body in his physical body for a short time. This sojourn entitles man to a physical body in the resurrection which he will enjoy to all eternity. The probation is a proving of each man’s spirit to see if, after being born into mortality, he will obey God or Satan. The purpose of God in creating man spiritually and physically is that each might learn to become a god himself if he so desires.
The Kinds of Learning.
The learning which qualifies a man to become a god is to learn to love and serve his God with all of his heart, might, mind and strength. Only thus can any person learn the ways of godliness. As a person loves his God, the knowledge and power of God flow to him that he might learn and enjoy ever good (godly) thing.
To be godly, the mind of man must learn to see the hand of God in all things. The mind must learn to separate truth from error and to use that truth in all thinking. The mind must learn to be creative and agile in perception, understanding and problem-solving. The tutelage for this learning is constant contact with another mind which is already godly, one’s God.
To be godly the heart of man must learn to choose the way of godliness above all else. It must learn to love with that pure love of Christ. It must learn to forget self and to abhor selfishness in the quest of helping others to be as happy as they can be, even at the price of sacrifice of one’s own goods. The tutelage for this learning is to bask continually in the warmth of God’s love, returning that love in choosing complete obedience to God and godly love for every neighbor.
To be godly, the strength of man must learn to be a servant, not master. The body must learn control, skill, and power in all of the ways of godliness. It must learn to enjoy the pleasures and blessings that a righteous man always encounters in the path of obeying his God, but never to seek those pleasures and benefits for their own sake. Through the purity of his heart and the power and clarity of his mind, the godly man will master every passion and skill, thus achieving a creative excellence in building, growing food, teaching and performing so that he completes successfully every mission, every task to which the Lord sets him. The tutelage for this learning is to enjoy the constant companionship of a god, the Holy Spirit, and to learn under God’s direction to do all things well in purity and righteousness.
To be godly, the might of man must also learn to be godly. In the spiritual and temporal stewardships of every servant of God will be beings, persons, who also must learn the ways of God. Those beings which must be acted upon by the steward will be so ordered that his home, his possessions, all of his property will assume a divine and celestial order. The temporal mission of a godly man is always to try to create celestial order. The temporal mission of a godly man is always to try to create celestial order in this telestial environment. The tutelage for that learning again is to learn all things in the constant companionship of a god, the Holy Ghost.
The sum of godly learning is to learn to love one’s God with all of one’s heart, might, mind and strength.
The Modes of Learning.
There are two principal modes of human learning. One we shall call the vertical mode. The other we shall call the horizontal mode.
The center of each mode of human learning is the self, the heart, might, mind and strength of each individual. Vertical learning is that the self reaches up and down from itself. It reaches up to spiritual influence. In reaching up, the heart and mind learn from and are shaped by the spiritual influences that surround the spirit being of man. The self reaches down through the body, the strength, and through one’s might, to gain first-handed experience of the existences and natures of the things that surround him in the physical world. Vertical learning is direct, personal interaction of the person, the self, with the spiritual and non-social physical environments in which one finds oneself.
Horizontal learning takes place when a person reaches out to other human beings and learns from the spiritual and physical influences which each other person has for him. We learn to feel, to think, to act, to speak, and to display our might rather readily from our fellow human beings. In fact it is usually easier to learn horizontally than it is vertically, because it usually takes less creativity (effort) of the self to do what others do than it does to learn from spiritual sources and from physical nature. Social rewards also influence this pattern. People who spend all their time in the presence of people usually are more responsive to social rewards and punishments which follow when we learn or do not learn to do as our human associates do. People who spend much time alone, struggling with spiritual forces and temporal problems, tend more to vertical learning and are less susceptible to social pressure.
Each mode of human learning, vertical and horizontal, has also two aspects which we must differentiate.
The two kinds of spirits, good and evil, make two different types of vertical learning. The influence of the Lord teaches man to know and love truth, excellence, righteousness, and love produces one kind of vertical learning. The influence of Satan teaches man to know and love lies, slovenliness, selfishness and hate, and produces a very different kind of vertical learning.
Every human being who is accountable is well acquainted with both of these options for vertical learning, but only those who are oriented towards vertical learning tend to be conscious of the drastic difference between the two options. Nature, or the downward aspect of vertical learning, is seen here to be a representation of the spiritual influence of God. People who spend a great deal of time out in natural surroundings will find the peaceful, wholesome influence of God there rather than the selfish, confining, fearful feeling engendered by the adversary, unless they have been taught by other people to see nature otherwise.
Horizontal learning is also a test of heart and mind. A person of a good heart and mind will gravitate to those persons who also teach and do what he has learned to be true from God and nature. A person of evil heart and mind will gravitate to those persons who teach the lies and wrong that aid and abet his selfish desires.
This double duality of vertical and horizontal learning separates out four kinds of persons. Since everyone must and does learn both vertically and horizontally, the four groups are created by the options which each person chooses for learning. Those whose vertical orientation is towards God and nature and whose horizontal orientation is to learn from and to compare notes with godly men and women, are the children of God, heirs to the celestial kingdom. Those who have a vertical orientation to God and nature, but who choose evil men and women for their horizontal learning are the honorable men of the earth who are blinded by the craftiness of men, heirs to the terrestrial kingdom. Those who have a Satanic, non-nature vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation to evil men and women are those who remain natural, carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are heirs to the telestial kingdom. Those who are horizontally oriented to desire to associate with good men and women, who use their words and deeds, but who apply and interpret those goodly words and deeds by vertical orientation to Satan, are the hypocrites. They will have no glory.