- Learning
occurs within brains, but outside of brains too. Scientists have documented
changes in how blood flows in the brain after learning has occurred. This is
interpreted as previously unused neural pathways becoming activated during the
learning. When the knowledge is used subsequently, the same neural pathways are
active. The nature of these pathways has filled many books. In the last few decades, scholars have begun
to recognize the cognition that humans have transferred to the environment.
Once we learn to write, we can effectively “download” memory to bits
of paper (or now bytes of information), so human learning can be considered to
have both neural components and environmental components. - Learning
is a multi-dimensional process involving perception, recollection,
analyzing, creating, and otherwise engaging with information and ideas. As we
will see, there are several different types of learning and those who have
learned are capable of far more than repeating information. - We become
“smarter” through effort. Our brains and our cognitive abilities
are similar to muscles, they improve with practice. This practice is not solely
an individual effort, however. When we interact with others, both mentors and
peers, we tend to build stronger memories and we find more connections to what
we have learned. What and how we know is affected by the people around us as
well as what we have already learned. Some of the effort to become smarter is
affected by our approach to learning as well. - Some
learning is permanent; but our cognitive abilities change over time, and
especially our memories are very faulty. Much that we learned early in our
lives has been forgotten and much that we think we remember we are actually
misremembering.