I believe that it is in our genes to learn. We are the species with the significant cognitive adaptations. Everyone enjoys learning. Note - this is not to say that everyone enjoys being taught, or going to school, or even making efforts at learning. But we all know the feeling of coming to understand something. It is inherently pleasant and satisfying. And now I’m wondering if it is possible for us to NOT learn, if we are presented with the appropriate conditions of a manageable novelty. Do we automatically learn what is presented to us? Can we NOT learn what we perceive? Can we override our innate ability to notice and make sense of things? What do you think?
I’ve met some people that make me believe the answer is yes.
Same here, I would think it would require an incentive to learn (e.g. learning a way to get a hold of tha delicious chocolate). Without that, a lot of people probably would not bother. In modern society, this incentive gets internalized in a lot of people, making it seem the drive to learn comes from within.
CC - Bringing up a Q about cognitive psych in this forum, one comes dangerously close to opening a can of worms…
No. But do not confuse learning with memory processes. When I cycle into teaching Cognitive Processes - which is a 300 level course at the school I teach at - many students get memory and cognitive processes confused. Do you automatically learn something? No. Do you remember the process of learning a certain thing? Sometimes.
Basically, the human capacity to learn is founded in ones capability to remember processes. Someone with MS for instance may appear like they can not learn, but they may be extrememly intelligent, but only lack the ability to express themselves. i.e. ** The movie My Left Foot**.
the study of cognitive process is a study of the physical grey matter between your ears, as well as the method at wich our physical parts store and process memory and learning.
Oh yes, it’s called selective hearing, you can ask my wife all about that one. 
Just kidding. Yes we can overide our ability to notice things. You probably do it everyday.
I don’t have a lot of time right now, but for more info look up developmental psych before going into cognitive processes…
Well, if we’ve learned that in learning situations we will be cast as a chump, then yeah, we can give the appearance of not learning.
Depression and other types of illness can not only make us uninterested in novelty, but uncomfortable with it. That doesn’t stop learning, as your OP has it, not entirely.