8 docs tagged with "learning"

Understanding how you learn can transform the way you ask questions and consume information, making it seem like you have a superpower. Learning involves incorporating new facts, concepts, and abilities into our brains, starting from the womb and continuing throughout life. Each new piece of knowledge builds on what we already know, enriching our understanding of the world and enhancing our ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Adaptability is crucial for survival and success in both life and work.

Despite having read Villehardouin's chronicle of the Fourth Crusade multiple times, I realize that my recollection of its contents is minimal. This observation extends to the hundreds of books on my shelves, raising the question: What is the value of reading if so little is remembered?

*Play is an essential way of learning about the world. Doing things we enjoy without a goal in mind leads us to find new information, better understand our own capabilities, and find unexpected beauty around us. Arithmetic is one example of an area we can explore through play.*

The Art of Being Alone

The most detrimental lesson you may have learned in school wasn't from a specific class, but rather the pursuit of good grades. This pursuit often overshadows genuine learning. Tests, in theory, should gauge what you've learned in a class. However, in practice, they often become the main focus of studying, with actual learning taking a backseat.

In the realm of science fiction, the concept of knowledge acquisition often transcends the traditional method of reading. Fantastical ideas of knowledge being loaded into the brain akin to a computer program are prevalent. However, this notion is far from becoming a reality, not merely due to the technical difficulty of creating such a mechanism, but also because of its inherent insufficiency.

Why write an essay when you can type a few words and have AI generate one for you? Why write an email when AI can auto-respond for you with all the typical pleasantries and talking points? While AI doing these things for you is likely to happen, it’s not necessarily a good thing. Even when these tools exist, they are not a replacement for writing. Writing is the process by which you realize that you do not understand what you are talking about. Importantly, writing is also the process by which you figure it out. Writing about something teaches you about what you know, what you don’t know, and how to think. Writing about something is one of the best ways to learn about it. Writing is not just a vehicle to share ideas with others but also a way to understand them better yourself.

Rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, remains highly relevant today. In our age of information sharing, rhetoric surrounds us daily. Sam Leith’s book, "Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama", serves as a valuable tool to navigate these waters. Leith unpacks rhetorical concepts and provides the knowledge needed to become a powerful speaker. The book features sections like ‘Champions of Rhetoric,’ where he analyzes the work of famous orators. The chapter comparing Adolf Hitler to Winston Churchill is particularly intriguing.