Saturday, June 27, 2015

Learning and Unlearning



This video is fascinating. Take the 7 minutes to watch it. It is about the way we learn, how hard it is to unlearn something you thought was immutable (like riding a bike), perception, and bias.

I love this quote from the end:

"Truth is truth, no matter what I think about it. So be very careful how you interpret things, because you're looking at the world with a bias whether you think you are or not." -- Destin at SmarterEveryDay

All kinds of perfect, eh?



5 comments:

  1. Awesome video, Mary Lee. I just talked to my grandson who doesn't know how to roller skate (at 14). So I wonder now if he will ever make that path way? This connects to those times we see kids in school who haven't "learned" no matter how much we give them the tools.

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  2. This is really interesting. It fascinates me, as I think about the kids at school learning a second language, versus me trying to learn one as an oldish lady. They flip back and forth between English and Spanish so easily and I practice and practice and practice and still don't improve very quickly. Thanks for sharing this.

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  3. I watched that video yesterday. And those last lines struck me, too. Especially in regard to our attitude toward our supposedly post-racial society.

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  4. Super video! Makes me wonder how I can help the kids (and myself!) question the stories we tell ourselves, the habits we create. Those stories and habits help us get through the day (can you IMAGINE doing everything with the kind of concentration it took to unlearn riding a bike??), but as this video suggests, they aren't the whole story. Thanks!

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    1. Also, I loved the "welders are smarter than engineers" line. Not sure I'd say it that way, but it points out the difference between empirical and theoretical ways of knowing.

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