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    Seed: How We Know
    5 starseric | Shared With: Everyone - Jul 19 2006 | John Dewey, Toyota, mirror neuron, learning, education, algebra, Algebra Project, mathematics, K. Anders Ericsson, practice, talent
    Seed: How We Know

    An absolutely wonderful article from the September 2006 issue of "Seed" on "How We Know." The basic concept is that people elarn from doing - always. Extrapolating from there and showing concret examples from education, business, and the arts - there is something useful in here for everyone.

    Quoted: According to Ericsson, this is how elite performers always practice. It is the secret trick of their talent, the way they become the best. Instead of treating practice as separate from the learning process--doing is what you do when you are done learning--they constantly find ways to integrate learning into their doing process, and the payoff is immense. The brain is designed to learn in a very particular way, consistently favoring the concrete over the abstract, the practical over the theoretical. If something can't be done, then we probably aren't interested in learning about it. The individuals and organizations that take advantage of this psychological principle are the ones that excel, getting the most out of themselves and their charges. If people can learn the right way--algebra on the subway, practice sessions and factory floors transformed into experiences that broaden the mind--neuroscience indicates there is little the mind can't accomplish. But if we remain ignorant of Dewey and the Labor-atory School, of Rizzolatti and his monkeys, of Bob Moses and newly-accelerated math students, of the winners of musical competitions and major golf championships, we will plod along in mediocrity, and fail algebra.

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    • hknapp - Jul 19 2006

      Good find, Eric! I co-lead a seminar about Mirror Neurons last year. I think the research doesn't always support some of the grandiose claims that are made about these cells, but the broader theory--that there's a inextricable link between perception and action (and that there are specific neural circuits that support these connections)--is really elegant...and probably fundamental to our ability to function in this world. Cool stuff. :)

    • eric - Jul 19 2006

      I'm becoming addicted to "Seed" and "New Scientist".

    • hknapp - Jul 20 2006

      Yeah, I'm so happy that you've dotted these things; had no idea they existed. I'm hooked!

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