7 Most Popular Myths About Learning
Unlearn what you have learnt about learning…
In life, I have always thought of myself as a car on an endless road. On this road, potholes and bumps can steer my vehicle off track, and unseen bends and curves can make a journey a whole lot less straightforward. However, there are some off-the-track routes that rise onwards and upwards where we can drive up and marvel at the panoramic view that may await us. In the recent lockdown, I have driven up these routes more than I ever have before. The journey of learning is an uphill climb where our cars may stall or even roll back. However, we must keep on traveling the journey — no matter the lies, myths, and untruths that are often told about learning and productivity.
1. Intelligence is fixed
It is often said that intelligence is something you are born with. You either have it in spades, an average amount, or hardly anything. Self-labeled geniuses wave their IQ scores as an indicator of their superior smarts, and intelligence is universally measured through grades, points, or a percentage system. However, with the universal acceptance of several types of intelligence from musical to linguistic to intra-personal, intelligence is no longer quantitative. It is qualitative and fluid. Like so many things, intelligence is a combination of attitudes, actions, and context. My mother often told me that “you don’t need to work hard. You need to work smart.” It’s not how many hours you pour into learning. It’s about the methods you are using when you learn in order for you to consume high amounts of knowledge and retain it for a long-term period.
It’s not how smart you are. It’s how you are smart.
2. Mistakes are failures
Founder and CEO of billion-dollar company, Spanx, Sara Blakely, once recalled that during her childhood dinners, her father asked her and her brother what they failed at every day. When his children had nothing to report on, her father was often disappointed, and today, Blakely recollects her father’s lesson as the main secret of her success — embrace your mistakes. The person you were yesterday is not always the person you will be tomorrow, and the only way you can become better is to learn what you did wrong. Mistakes are like clay –grey and nondescript at the beginning. With time and care, they can become a masterpiece.
3. Knowledge is power
“Scientia potentia est” is a myth that has been with us since ancient times. Unless you are a superhuman entity who can assimilate information from a book in a nanosecond, knowledge is certainly not power. However, it can become power. Knowledge and “know-how” are two similar, yet incredibly different, aspects of learning. Knowledge takes the form of books, podcasts, courses, articles, and anything that can communicate the sheer facts, information, and theoretical understanding of a subject. Know-how is the expertise and practical knowledge or skill to make pragmatic and tangible contributions. On the internet, stores of knowledge are a dime a dozen. However, they cannot become truly valuable unless the reader consciously applies the lessons to their daily actions, routines, and learning experiences. In its raw form, knowledge is powerful but not power. The will and the ability to act on it is power.
A formula to remember: Knowledge x Action = Power
4. Learning is only for a select period and purpose
It is often said that college and school are the times for active learning. In reality, life is a classroom, and every single second can be spent learning something new. Whether it’s accruing new skills, reading a book, listening to a podcast, taking a course, or listening to the advice of an old sage, everything is a learning opportunity. Take as many as you can. It is important also to remember that you need to love what you want to learn. Learning is a ladder to something greater. However, you need to propel yourself with the energy to climb it. What is a greater energy other than passion? An advocate of the modern neuroscientific belief that emotions are fundamental to learning, Plato mentioned more than 2,000 years ago that “All learning has an emotional base.” Motivation in the brain is driven by emotion, and individuals are motivated to engage in situations with an emotionally positive valence and avoid those with an emotionally negative valence. Research findings indicate that different aspects of memory are activated in different emotional contexts, thus demonstrating there are links between emotion and cognition.
5. Learning anything new is difficult
Sometimes, it is extremely challenging to learn new things. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you can’t expect to become the master of a new discipline immediately. Learning is a machine where several cogs need to be oiled down before churning out. Luckily, learning is an art where there is not just one way to go about it. It is a process that can certainly become easier when you know exactly how you learn best. From consuming bite-sized chunks to note-taking to teaching others, when you know how to utilize new, easier, and more accessible ways on how to learn, the challenge of learning new things can eventually become more enjoyable and certainly much more straightforward.
6. Criticism matters
It is often said that individuals are their own worst critics. However, with a slow and gradual learning process, self-criticism is eventually erased to take the form of something you can be proud of. However, when it comes to others’ criticisms, harsh words can stick in the mind like gum. Embarking on a new journey can be scary. However, regret is much scarier. Don’t feel like you have to abandon something you love to do because someone else told you to. People will always criticize and doubt you no matter what you do. The best thing you can do is to prove them wrong. One day, we will take our last breaths, and not one of other people’s opinions or your fears will matter. What will matter is how we lived. Live the life you would be proud to tell your grandchildren and take on the advice of those who want to build you up, not tear you down.
Take the advice of those who matter, when it matters, and what they’re saying matters.
7. There is only one way to learn effectively
At the age of 15, Albert Einstein clashed with his school’s teaching regimen and methods. Sent to the Luitpold Gymnasium to pursue electrical engineering by his father, Einstein later wrote that the “spirit of learning and creative thought was lost in strict rote learning.” It is often perceived that the repetitive action of reading the same paragraph over and over will eventually stick in your mind. However, it is much the opposite. Active engagement is essential for effective learning. Changes in neural connections, which are fundamental for learning to take place in the brain, do not seem to occur when learning experiences are not active. Merely listening to a presentation or lecture, or half-heartedly scanning a book will not lead to learning. Powerful training initiatives that stimulate active engagement include facilitation, simulation, games, and role-play.
