learnig theories

The infed article was interesting because it challenges what it means, "to learn". In our society learning is defined by measurable tests and tasks more than knowledge acquisition. Most of us have never been to school just for the sake of learning. We are sent there when we are young, where we are challenged by what we learned not through discussion and exploration but through standardized test and quizzes. We progress and venture off either to college or into the work place, both coming with there own challenges and ideas of learning. But it seems very rare, even for the college student to learn for the sake of knowledge. It would seem as though we only learn to reprocess this knowledge for some sort of "test" regardless if it is for school or not. Due to efficiency, learning is crammed in, in a very standard and measurable way and then re-couped in a similar fashion. I wonder if that's why so many parents have such a hard time helping their kids with 5th grade math, because after 5th grade you're not really thinking about it much.
Sometimes I feel as though graduate school has ruined my love of learning for the sake of learning. It feels that I spend so much time on projects or assignments for school that I have very little time to just learn something for fun. I believe this again has something to do with the cult of efficiency, I don't really have the desire, nor does my major professors of having me hang around here too long while I take introduction to Mandarin or boating for fun. I wonder where our nature to rush through everything, to get something done as quickly as possible has manifested from? I masters degree used to take about 2 years, I have friends who are pushing to get theirs done in 1 year, same with the PhD a couple of friends are finishing theirs up after 3 years having taken 18cr class loads non-stop. What I think is more interesting is that these friends have no real plans for when they're done. They don't have jobs, families or careers waiting for them, they just wanted to be done. But on the contrast, I have a friend who is a 4th year, with a baby on the way, with only 4 classes left and he's talking about adding two minors and a co-major and reorganizing his committee.
I just find it interesting how education is used by some as either another thing to check off their list, a way to hide out, or something that must be completed to move to another task.