Why do some people refuse to learn new things?

[Preya_M]

I have a family member who refuses to learn anything more about the English language. His spelling is really quite horrible, his pronunciation needs some adjustments and his sentence forming skills are really bad. Regardless of these issues, he refuses to seek help and learn how to correct himself. He's still quite young and he doesn't understand how this can bother him in the future. Why do you think that is?

[Disinterested Cow]

He doesn't have to, if he doesn't want to. Assuming he actually understands the benefits of improving his English but chooses not to, he's allowed to make an informed decision.

[TheHandThatThieves]

Indeed, as the above poster says, there's no real point in attempting to force him - all you can do is ensure that he properly understands the benefits of a "proper" grasp of the English language. How old is he, our of curiosity? I feel like in time, if he's a smart kid, he'll probably grasp pretty quickly that he's not going to get very far in life without being able to master even the basic "norms" of civilised conversation.

[True2marie]

Some people are content with being mediocre. They don't want to make much of an effort. This mentality is an epidemic these days. It's why people are paying others to take the SAT for them and those in authority (Rob Ford) act so common.

:nerd:

[Trellum]

I'm guessing he's scared, that's why he doesn't even make an effort and tries to excuse himself by saying this won't affect him at all.  Actually this is a very common reaction for someone who is afraid of changes of failure.

I experienced something like that as well, and let me tell you no matter what you guys say or do... he will not change.  The only who can make him change is himself: the change must come within. But don't worry, he might come to his senses when he is faced with a situation that requires him to have a good English.

[mareebaybay]

I think some people refuse to learn new things, because they are so accustomed to there current learning habits and knowledge making them less likely to want to learn something new. Then there are those who are just scared of commitment so they don't even try !

[Denis Hard]

There's nothing wrong with that. Maybe he plans to live somewhere the knowledge of English is not going to be helpful. If I were in his shoes and I wasn't going to benefit much from learning a language that doesn't interest me, I wouldn't put in any effort to improve myself.

[Peninha]

Some people don't care if they speak right or wrong, as long as they can communicate they are happy with it. Maybe that is the case of your family member, what line of work is he in? Maybe in his line of work it doesn't make a difference?

[Daimashin]

If he already knows the consequences and still refuses to improve then there isn't anything to say about this. My view on this is that he's too lazy, he believes that English isn't as important as people make it out to be and it's not a factor that affects his future life. He thinks that he doesn't need good English to excel in his work and life.

[BlackCaXIII]

Because why take time to learn things?

As long as you can function properly I say your okay, sure you can learn things and farther develop yourself, or maybe you just want to stay at the bare bones essential and put your time towards other efforts.

Maybe your lazy, you can function you have the bare bones why bother expanding on them, when they most likely won't impact your lifestyle drastically.

At least that's my view point on it, you have the essentials, if you want to expand then good for you, if you don't, then good for you as well.

Some people just put value in other things.

Now on the other hand if it's so horrid that he has trouble functioning in society, that's when you should be worried.

[Rosa]

Keep on encouraging your family member of the importance of having a solid English skill but don't be surprised if he doesn't change. He may not see the need to right now. Maybe someday when it is really required of him or he's been embarassed by yhe lack of it.

[lizbeth19hph]

How young is your family member? He could be so young that he still cannot clearly understand the value of learning a second language. Some people also refuse to learn new things simply because they are afraid to go out of their comfort zones, frightened to commit mistakes and be the butt of jokes by other people. Or they could be too confident of themselves thinking they can learn new things all by themselves without bothering other people.

[fredkawig]

Have you considered that maybe He is a slow learner. Sometimes, problems can be a barrier for people in learning new things. Some even have sickness in the mind which makes them feeble in understanding and grasping things. On the other hand, Laziness could be the reason a person refuses to learn new things which make the stay on their comfort zones.

[sos]

The reason that comes to mind is that they just do not see any use in the knowledge to them. However, there are those who just have a curiosity that drives them to go after new things. They do this even if there is no use that can be seen in the mean time for the learning.I therefore, can pin down the reason to human nature as shown in the two instances that I have described.

[Firelily99]

Its all about fear, either the fear of failure or the fear of being pulled out of their comfort zone that will happen if they succeed.  They also may not to simply make the effort, there is no easy way to learn a new language and it does take some time to master a new one.  People don't generally want to change if they are comfortable where they are, it is only when they are forced into it that they finally make a change.