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Goodbye Jesus

On Learning


Legion

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Guys, it seems to me that we are each partial authorities on the subject of learning, because we've each experienced life and learned during it. And I was hoping that we might here pool our various views of the learning process, so that we may benefit from each other's perspective. To help kick things off, I am going to make a few assertions with which you may agree or disagree. I also hope you'll feel free to contribute your own.

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Learning is the acquistion of understandings; understandings are the fruits of learning.

 

Learning is often accompanied by pain.

 

The "click" of a new understanding is pleasureable.

 

Curiosity is a form of desire.

 

None learn more quickly than the child at play.

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I thought of another one...

 

The fruits of learning are improved self-control.

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:HaHa: I thought of another one...

 

If for no other reason, understandings are valuable in the same way that gold is valuable; they are rare.

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Learning is an art; there is no formula for it.

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No participation yet. Curious. Oh well, I'll just keep adding assertions until... well I don't know until what. :HaHa:

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The best teachers are servant guides who recognize that they merely assist students in their journey. And though teacher and student are partners in the learning process, the teacher should be looked to first if the student fails to learn.

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College sucked all the fun out of learning for me. Applying structure to learning seems to have that effect on me.

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Thanks for your participation Rank.

 

College sucked all the fun out of learning for me. Applying structure to learning seems to have that effect on me.

 

Hmm. I've learned far, far more outside of college under my own efforts than I ever did within it.

 

Do you prefer to learn in "play mode"?

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Thanks for your participation Rank.

 

College sucked all the fun out of learning for me. Applying structure to learning seems to have that effect on me.

 

Hmm. I've learned far, far more outside of college under my own efforts than I ever did within it.

 

Do you prefer to learn in "play mode"?

 

Absolutely.

 

I remember back when I was first starting out as a mechanic, I had my ass kicked by a problem with an alternator. Now I had learned about them in school, and I had a manual in front of me. But it just didn't 'click'. I understood it in what you might call and "on paper" sense. But I didn't have a really good working understanding of what was going on.

 

So that evening I came home and took an alternator apart. I went through every piece of it, traced every circuit, and tested them with my multimeter. I cleaned and inspected every part and put it back together as a half-assed 'rebuilt' alternator. I bolted it onto my old Buick, and it WORKED.

 

After that, I had no problem understanding what was going on with an alternator. That evening of tinkering served me well for many years to come. And it accomplished what 'class time' and 'book time' couldn't.

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None learn more quickly than the child at play.

 

Play is the best form of learning. This is why I Iove my kids preschool, I wish every other learning institution and corporate environment was more like preschool. We'd all be smarter and more creative. Plus there's cookies.

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College sucked all the fun out of learning for me. Applying structure to learning seems to have that effect on me.

 

High school did that for me, but I loved undergrad - I felt like I was learning again for the first time since elementary school. Plus, there's beer.

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I really enjoyed that Rank. Thank you for sharing that.

 

Do you believe, at the end of the day, that learning is a solitary endeavor?

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None learn more quickly than the child at play.

 

Play is the best form of learning. This is why I Iove my kids preschool, I wish every other learning institution and corporate environment was more like preschool. We'd all be smarter and more creative. Plus there's cookies.

 

Do you believe children (of all intelligent species) play because it serves a learning function?

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College sucked all the fun out of learning for me. Applying structure to learning seems to have that effect on me.

 

High school did that for me, but I loved undergrad - I felt like I was learning again for the first time since elementary school. Plus, there's beer.

 

Don't get me wrong- I enjoyed college A LOT more than high school. The difference is that I was an adult in college and treated as such. It was my choice to be there. And professors in college simply can't get away with treating their students the way students are treated in public schools.

 

Now I will say that there's LOTS that I learned in college that I never would have learned in a self-directed fashion. Learning via structured assignments and tests is NOT fun for me (though I'm damn good at it), but it does force a certain amount of background information into you- that you just wouldn't get otherwise.

 

I know from experience that once I have a few years to apply, tinker with, and think on what I've learned in school, I will actually come to understand it better... better even than I understood it when it was fresh in my mind. Like lots of lazy students, I tend to learn only what is necessary per assignment, test, or class- and fill in the gaps between later. Even abstract subjects like calculus make more sense to me after they just sit in my brain for a few years.

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None learn more quickly than the child at play.

 

Play is the best form of learning. This is why I Iove my kids preschool, I wish every other learning institution and corporate environment was more like preschool. We'd all be smarter and more creative. Plus there's cookies.

 

Do you believe children (of all intelligent species) play because it serves a learning function?

 

Yes, play is learning. My son's daycare, that was the foundation of their philosophy. We need to get that sense back in the public school system. Kindergarten is ridiculous now, it's all about getting kids to read and do standardized tests and then they are no better off later in life for rushing the learning experience early on.

 

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood."

 

 

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College sucked all the fun out of learning for me. Applying structure to learning seems to have that effect on me.

 

High school did that for me, but I loved undergrad - I felt like I was learning again for the first time since elementary school. Plus, there's beer.

 

Don't get me wrong- I enjoyed college A LOT more than high school. The difference is that I was an adult in college and treated as such. It was my choice to be there. And professors in college simply can't get away with treating their students the way students are treated in public schools.

 

Now I will say that there's LOTS that I learned in college that I never would have learned in a self-directed fashion. Learning via structured assignments and tests is NOT fun for me (though I'm damn good at it), but it does force a certain amount of background information into you- that you just wouldn't get otherwise.

 

I know from experience that once I have a few years to apply, tinker with, and think on what I've learned in school, I will actually come to understand it better... better even than I understood it when it was fresh in my mind. Like lots of lazy students, I tend to learn only what is necessary per assignment, test, or class- and fill in the gaps between later. Even abstract subjects like calculus make more sense to me after they just sit in my brain for a few years.

 

I'm a lot like that too. I only enjoyed classes in the beginning when they are new and fresh. I always got mid-semester blues because I got bored with the rote work of attending class and taking tests. Also, it turns out I have ADD, so I probably would have had better focus had I known that, I just thought I was just lazy. It's a miracle I finished both my useless degrees.

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I really enjoyed that Rank. Thank you for sharing that.

 

Do you believe, at the end of the day, that learning is a solitary endeavor?

 

I think it depends on one's personality. For introverts like us, it often is solitary. Whether we're talking about physical work or mental work- I'm FAR more productive working on my own than in a group. Other people just get in my way, and are only useful for lifting heavy things IMO. But I doubt that's true for those silly extroverts that the world is overrun with.

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Ha, Fred Rogers... this is not the first time his name has been brought to me DeanMen.

 

I think he and I share a lot in common.

 

He was an American psychologist, right? He was also mostly self-taught, yes?

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I really enjoyed that Rank. Thank you for sharing that.

 

Do you believe, at the end of the day, that learning is a solitary endeavor?

 

I think it depends on one's personality. For introverts like us, it often is solitary. Whether we're talking about physical work or mental work- I'm FAR more productive working on my own than in a group. Other people just get in my way, and are only useful for lifting heavy things IMO. But I doubt that's true for those silly extroverts that the world is overrun with.

 

If you met me in person you would think I am a silly extrovert. But I am more like what Margee calls an "outgoing introvert". I worked a corporate job from my home office for many years and I always was more productive in my home office than when I had to go into the office. It's amazing how many hours people work now and the time they waste. We could all be working 20-30 hours if we were more efficient. I can do twice the work most people do in 40 hours. Oh and that was with ADD. I can't believe how I am gonna bust out my job going back knowing that I have it.

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Ha, Fred Rogers... this is not the first time his name has been brought to me DeanMen.

 

I think he and I share a lot in common.

 

He was an American psychologist, right? He was also mostly self-taught, yes?

 

Actually, I think before he had the TV show he was a Presbyterian minister. I loved Mr. Rogers growing up, I hate when people rag on him.

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I really enjoyed that Rank. Thank you for sharing that.

 

Do you believe, at the end of the day, that learning is a solitary endeavor?

 

I think it depends on one's personality. For introverts like us, it often is solitary. Whether we're talking about physical work or mental work- I'm FAR more productive working on my own than in a group. Other people just get in my way, and are only useful for lifting heavy things IMO. But I doubt that's true for those silly extroverts that the world is overrun with.

 

I guess that makes sense. I'm markedly introverted, and highly intuitive. I mostly learn in solitude, and because I enjoy learning, I often seek solitude. But I definitely see the downside of it. For instance, I've been trying to learn a branch of math lately called category theory. And because it is so rich, I know that I would benefit from learning about it with others so that I may see their differing perspectives.

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Ha, Fred Rogers... this is not the first time his name has been brought to me DeanMen.

 

I think he and I share a lot in common.

 

He was an American psychologist, right? He was also mostly self-taught, yes?

 

Actually, I think before he had the TV show he was a Presbyterian minister. I loved Mr. Rogers growing up, I hate when people rag on him.

 

Lol yes... I was thinking of Carl Rogers. duh

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Ha, Fred Rogers... this is not the first time his name has been brought to me DeanMen.

 

I think he and I share a lot in common.

 

He was an American psychologist, right? He was also mostly self-taught, yes?

 

Actually, I think before he had the TV show he was a Presbyterian minister. I loved Mr. Rogers growing up, I hate when people rag on him.

 

Lol yes... I was thinking of Carl Rogers. duh

 

Yeah, I was thinking of Carl's Jr.

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Learning is often accompanied by pain.

 

 

I was thinking about the 'truthiness' of this statement. And it made me think of how painful it is for me to write, when I am really being intentional and serious about it.

 

And then I thought but learning tennis at lessons is so much fun and not painful at all. But then again, my ass is killing me!

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Learning is often accompanied by pain.

 

 

I was thinking about the 'truthiness' of this statement. And it made me think of how painful it is for me to write, when I am really being intentional and serious about it.

 

And then I thought but learning tennis at lessons is so much fun and not painful at all. But then again, my ass is killing me!

 

:HaHa:

 

I guess when I made that assertion I was thinking about how learning is often a process of trial and error, with a lot of trials and a lot of error.

 

And it just now occurs to me to ask... What is being tried? What is being tested in the trials?

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Learning is often accompanied by pain.

 

 

I was thinking about the 'truthiness' of this statement. And it made me think of how painful it is for me to write, when I am really being intentional and serious about it.

 

And then I thought but learning tennis at lessons is so much fun and not painful at all. But then again, my ass is killing me!

 

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I guess when I made that assertion I was thinking about how learning is often a process of trial and error, with a lot of trials and a lot of error.

 

And it just now occurs to me to ask... What is being tried? What is being tested in the trials?

 

Hmmmm....trial and error. Well I don't have your scientific / logical mind. But in my experience a lot of learning is continuing to make attempts at what you are working on and allowing yourself the freedom to make mistakes. And if you keep repeating this you get better and better. Fear of failure and perfectionist thinking has held me back in my life. I'm moving on to my second half not being so afraid of failing but being open to making mistakes and growing. So maybe our abilities are on trial? We are testing our own abilities to master something.

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