To begin with, a commitment to lifelong learning keeps a person's mind active and perspectives constantly attuned to what's new. This is critical for someone to be able to question their own perspectives of the world from time to time -- from the people they interact with daily to the more global trends -- so the person's mind stay sharp and maintains a level of acuity and focus. Secondly, lifelong learning's passion is what keeps many people moving forward to goals they set, even if the goal has nothing to do with outward accomplishment, but more with realizing a specific level of competency in an area of interest. The fulfillment that comes from setting and accomplishing goals only visible to the person setting them in the context of lifelong learning strengths a person's ability to continually grow. Third, lifelong learning is the best insurance against becoming a dinosaur -- someone stuck in the...

Fourth and most important, lifelong learning gives the persons choosing to commit to it a strong sense of purpose, and what is si powerful about this purpose is that it requires no validation outside the person -- they validate their strengths as they reach learning goals.
In summary, lifelong learning, whether accidental or deliberate, including any point across this entire spectrum is critical for a person to keep their mind open to new perspectives and views of the world. It is incredibly important from a global perspective as it continually stretches the person's mind committed to it to see new views and perspectives. The result is a higher than ever level of tolerance for other perspectives and also a focus on attaining learning objectives, which are critical for a society's growth.