"Learning your lesson."

[sang]

The title of this thread is a saying for a situation. And it's when one person suffers from an unpleasant experience in life, he or she says something like, "Oh I've learnt my lesson, so I will never do that again." It's basically saying that I got to know what that experience was like and I would never do it again.

Sindbad says pretty much the same thing in his voyages, yet he ends up doing one voyage after another anyway, meaning he has not "learnt his lesson." So from this can we assume that even though we ought to learn from our experiences, that it's ok if we actually don't? What does this telll you about Sindbad?

I personally think that in some cases it is definitely good to "Not learn your lesson." It's quite illogical really, but look what Sindbad achieved through all this. He gets wealthier and wealthier throughout these voyages that he constantly regrets over. I think that we live in a world where experience is appraised and used to justify many things, distorting our views on what's right and wrong.

[jessicak016]

I never thought of this kind of view on this story. I actually thought that Sindbad has never learnt his lesson and kept going on his journey because it was easier for the storyteller, the wife of the king, to make up the story every night if it involved the same character. As you said, maybe she was also trying to convey with these stories that sometimes it is good not to learn your lesson.

[ginayang]

I thought it was interesting how Sindbad didn't learn his lesson because in most stories the main character does learn his lesson. For Sindbad's case, not learning his lesson was a good thing but in most cases, not learning a lesson is a bad thing. For example, if your boyfriend or girlfriend cheats on you and you just let it go, he or she can cheat on you again and again. So by not learning your lesson of breaking up when your spouse cheats will harm you in the future. Therefore, this tells me that Sindbad is kind of stupid for continuously risking his life by going on voyages. But like Sang said, your experiences shouldn't prevent you or distort you from performing that action again because a good event may happen.

[cathysjun]

Usually it is good to learn a lesson. Sinbad was just a really lucky person. I think Sinbad doesn't really say what he really means. I don't think he ever really learned his lesson.

[seongrae]

I don't think Sinbad really learned the lesson. However, I think it is always good to learn the lesson because if one do not think as a lesson they will be very depressed and will have hard time overcoming the troubles. Therefore I think learning lessons from experience is very important in our life.

[hannahs]

I think that Sindbad always knew that he would go on another journey if he survived the one he was on. I feel like going on adventures is what he lives for and without it he would be depressed. I think when he says oh I should have just stayed home, he is just complaining and just saying what comes up to his mind. He doesn't really mean it, it just comes out since he's in a dire situation. We do this all the time when we are mad too.

[sarahlee2]

It depends on the situation whether learning the lesson was good or if it was better to not learn the lesson. I think if its a lesson you learned from a big mistake you made, I think it is definitely better to follow that lesson and never make the same mistake again. But, I guess in some cases it can be good like in Sindbad's case. But I think I wouldn't really want to journey again after all those tiring experiences that he faced.

[sageda]

I think Sindbad never learned through his lessons because he saw that every time he ended up with something better than the other. But then I think he's pushing his luck. He never knows when he'll run out of luck and actually end up stranded somewhere left to die. His life might not be as interesting if he were to give up these risky adventures but he'd be doing himself a favor.

[sujeonggg]

I totally agree with Cathy. I don't think Sindbad ever learned a lesson. If he has "learnt hos lesson," then he at least should have done something different on the next journey after he experienced failure. But rather, he only regretted every time he faced hardships. And i think he was just soooo lucky and became wealthier each time.

[minjaeyang]

I think people who repeat actions after they learn their lessons think that the experience will be better next time. I think Sinbad is the type of person that just says certain things without any meaning in their words. He says he learned his lesson without much thinking. Personally, I think it doesn't matter what a person decides to do after they have learnt their lesson. It's all individual choice.

[juliekim]

I think Sinbad shouldn't have gone to those voyages if he truly learned his lessons, but there are some good things that he got out of it so I guess it all depends. As long as he enjoyed the voyage itself, there isn't much I can say against it because he liked it anyway. But in some situations, it would be stupid for you to repeat the same mistakes again, knowing that you'll end up having to suffer the same consequences.

[RegXD]

i must say Sinbad is a very forgetful guy or does he even remember what promises he made about the voyage? but if he doesn't than he is just being foolish but on the other hand if he knows what he is doing than i can only say that is a hardcore guy who love adventure and there are many people who would actually do that which is just amazing.

[minchoi0923]

I think it's kind of premature to say that Sinbad hasn't learned his lesson. I mean, it is true that he keeps on doing something that he repeatedly say that it's not okay to do. However, it his passion that drives to continue on the journey and we can't say that that's because he didn't learn his lesson. sinbad is just a guy who was born to go on adventures. He need to go for adventure; he can't live without it and we can't blame him for not following his heart.

[elijahlee]

I think that Sinbad didn't really learn anything. He keeps on doing the thing that he should have learned not to. Don't test his luck. Every time he leaves, he has been at risk of his life, yet he still leaves. If he truly learned his lesson, he would have been happy with the money he has and content and stopped putting his life at risk.

[stormy44]

The journeys Sinbad had were fun and challenging. I don't agree with Elijah saying that Sinbad didn't learn anything whatsoever. During his trips, Sinbad had to come up with ways to solve a problem and fix his mistakes. I just think Sinbad is a really adventurous guy who likes to take challenges, just like the people on Fear Factor or those crazy tv shows! We can't call them stupid, but challenging! I think Sinbad learned a lot of lessons and those dragged him back again to go on risky journeys!