- Name: How we learn : The surprising truth about when, where, and why it happens.
- Author: Benedict Carey
- Genre: Non Fiction/Self Improvement
- Book Post No. : 49
- What is it about? : How does the brain learn new things? What is the best way to learn? And what is the best way to remember that info? These are some of the questions, the author Benedict Carey tries to answer in this book. Benedict, who is a science reporter, splits the book into 4 parts. Part 1 is a basic background of how memory functions in the brain and about forgetting, which he mentions is a very important act in the overall learning process. Part 2 is about Retention and what’s the best way to do it. Part 3 is about distraction, a concept called Percolation and Interleaving. Part 4 is about the power of the subconscious and the very important role of sleep.
- How I came to read it? : This was one of those books you read on a whim. One day at work I was pondering about what was an effective way of grasping new knowledge at work and I casually looked up the catalogue of my local library (Fraser Valley Regional Library) and it had this book.
- Positives: Easy to read, informative and has good information. Having said that this book is more for someone who has never read other books on the subject. Lots of studies are mentioned which was interesting to read. I was one of those people who thought that I can only pay attention or learn something when I am sitting at my desk in complete silence with no distraction. The author says this approach is wrong. I am now trying to intentionally out myself in noisy and distracting situations and trying to learn new things. This was one of my biggest takeaways from this book. Another things I liked was the concept of interleaving which says its okay, in fact, better to mix up different subjects when studying instead of focusing on just one subject. The brain benefits from this interruption. It has to work extra hard to jump from subject to another one which actually helps in retaining that info. Another surprising fact I learned was that the mere task of recalling an piece of info makes the brain retain that info for much longer. That’s why some say its better to have a test before the start of a course even before you have learned anything.
- Negatives: Some might say there’s not much new information. For example, we don’t really need studies to tell us that a good night’s sleep is good for learning and retaining info. Also, there should have been a summary of the all the insights explained at the end, explaining how to use those in day to day learning. The first half of the book focusses too much on memory which is a good or annoying depending on what kind of a reader you are.
- Any other personal notes, observations, fun facts etc.: Some good quotes from the book:
“Self-congratulation is too easy and no basis for making life changes.”
