The Truth of Learning in the Age of Information
Recently, I helped a Tzu Chi Medical Outreach volunteer prepare a class about how to master any skill. He compiled a few Ted talks and podcasts for me to get ideas. One of the podcaster is from China and his sharp wit on the subject of mastery really struck me.
Here are the source videos I referenced:
Truth of Mastery in Chinese by Zhenyu Luo
First key concept is that learning is not comfortable.
Learning is integrating new knowledge to our understanding and working knowledge.
It happens in the Stretch Zone between Comfort Zone and Panic Zone. In those two extremes, we are not learning at all. There is a sweet spot in the stretch zone before we are paralyzed by fear for best learning.
What is active learning? The Active Learning Institute found that the best way to retain information we learn is by teaching it to others, and the second best way is to practice applying the information. So, the podcaster in China, Luo Zhenyu challenged himself to write a summary on his Weibo feed or make a 30 minute podcast or video whenever he finished reading a book or a course. If he can’t teach it to someone else, he had not learned anything. It reminded me of my friend’s blog which summarizes what he learned from books and podcasts. I also notice how many of my peers no longer actively take notes in lectures or classes. We do not realize that only through lectures, we can only retain an average 5% of the material. So, I challenge you to start taking notes and teaching the cool ideas that you are learning every day!
In the information age, we are bombarded with convenient tidbits of information from Reddit, Facebook and more. Most of the information are actually manipulated by marketers or influencers swaying our perspectives. And if we are not actively engaging the materials and integrating it into our understanding through application, we are not learning. We are just entertaining ourselves or being brainwashed.
Next, to master a skill most effectively, we need deliberate practice. This is deconstructing the final goal into components that can be drilled repeatedly and effectively. Zhenyu talks about how China struggles to train a very competitive soccer team despite the resources poured into it. He illustrated how Yao Ming shared that NBA player train their upper body and lower body with boxing drills. Many world-class musicians also break down a music score into components that they drill. Some musicians commented that if a segment being played can be recognized as part of a specific piece, the musician is not drilled enough. Renowned life hacker Tim Ferris often taught speed language learning by identifying the most commonly used phrases and vocabulary for someone to reach proficiency fast.
In the 20 hour Tedx talk, Josh Kaufman explained how he learned the ukelele only through 20 hours of deliberate practice. He really identified key components that he needed to learn to play most music pieces and refine them in mini learning curves.
What are these key components we need? Zhenyu thinks they are Expert Experience/hacks, technical skills and adaptability. We need to learn best practices in any field from experienced practitioners, drill different technical skills and finally, learn to react to changes.
Zhenyu shared examples of how Tiger Woods never stay in autopilot mode. He trains himself to be reactive to different situations in the field. Phelps’ won a gold medal when his goggles were not functioning in the Beijing olympics. This is thanks to his training in reacting to “accidents” created by his coach over the years.
Another key concept is a good learning environment.
The ideal learning environment is stimulating with unexpected challenges and prompt feedback to refine our learning. Practice should be an easy default without much barriers. We can design an environment to facilitate learning. The podcasts all advocate getting a good coach.
A good coach keeps us on track in terms of our direction by providing instant feedback. NBA coach John Wooden was identified to be successful in providing prompt feedback to his team.
Just like Jim Kwik, my favorite learning coach said, most of us are not taught how to use our brain to learn effectively. I took a web course in Mind Valley with Jim Kwik and learned so many neat tricks to help me remember and recall information effectively.
Zhenyu Luo also shared his vision that the mentor-mentee model (even in virtual courses) will be the future of learning as people realize the value of the coaching and instant feedback. He critiqued the standard testing model to be least effective for learning objectives. As students study for a test, they do not get frequent feedback and they are not applying the info for further integration in their memory. He praised a history class project in a US high school to build Columbus’ ship to the Americas as being a really effective learning model as students have to research different components of that period to complete the project.
Zhenyu left some very sharp remarks about the state of technology and our evolution as humankind. He remarked that technology is really dividing us into the frontier explorers or the loungers, aka the 1% or the 99%. Most people react to a new technology by lounging on its comfort while very few leverage it to explore a new frontier and reach a new peak. And new technology and capitalism really amplifies this difference in mindset and outcome. Over time, more success and wealth will be even more disparately distributed because of this difference. Are you choosing to be the 1% or 99%? Are you growing or lounging in entertainment with all this technology and knowledge?
Finally, to attain full mastery, as Malcolm Gladwell suggested in the Outliers, 10000 hours (5 years full time working hours) is suggested for peak performance. The idea is just repeated practice to perfection.
Thank you for reading and letting me practice learning all this by teaching it to you.
