{"id":46001,"date":"2021-08-23T17:41:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=46001"},"modified":"2021-08-25T15:56:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T19:56:03","slug":"learning-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/learning-myths\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Myths: How They Can Impede Your Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does learning come easy to you? How do you judge your own learning competence? Do you have any beliefs about learning<\/a> that could be sabotaging your progress? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to learn effectively, you must first clear away the illusions and myths that impede your drive to learn. Misperceptions about your competence and myths about your ability to learn can both inhibit you from pursuing greater levels of knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about common learning myths and how they sabotage your ability to learn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Balancing Intuition With Reason<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Continued learning requires you to consistently strengthen and build upon your skills and knowledge. In order to expand your learning, you need to know what you know, what you don\u2019t know, and what you need to work on. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that most people are poor judges of their own competencies. Humans are naturally prone to illusions and cognitive biases<\/a> that make us blind to our shortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans are wired with two complementary processing systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The automatic, unconscious system that\u2019s responsible for your intuitions and knee-jerk reactions<\/strong>. This system is critical for situations that require split-second decisions and reflexive action, whether you\u2019re getting away from a dangerous situation or defending against another player on the basketball court.<\/li>
  2. The controlled, conscious system that\u2019s responsible for logic and reason<\/strong>. This system works a little more slowly, helps you analyze problems, and balances the impulsivity of the first system. For example, your unconscious system notices a snake and makes you bolt away, but a few seconds later your second system kicks in and makes you realize that it\u2019s not a snake, after all\u2014it\u2019s simply a garden hose. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    (Shortform note: Learn more about these two systems in our summaries of Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em><\/a> and Blink<\/em><\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When your conscious system fails to correct a misperception by your unconscious system, you can end up believing illusions that make you misjudge your ability<\/strong>, such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Perceptual illusions<\/strong>: Perceptual illusions distort your senses and make you misinterpret images, sounds, or other sensations. For example, pilots can encounter optical illusions or, in extreme situations, illusions that make them think the plane is flying level when it\u2019s actually tilted.<\/li>
    2. Cognitive biases<\/strong>: Cognitive biases are caused by systematic problems with your way of thinking that impact your judgment and decision making<\/a>. For example, the bandwagon effect is a cognitive bias<\/a> that makes people more likely to think or do something if other people think or do it. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Hunger for Narrative<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Paradoxically, people sometimes unwittingly create their own illusions in an attempt to make sense of the world. People naturally want to find order and reason, so they unconsciously create narratives that explain why something is the way it is. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      People also create narratives that explain events in their own lives, including circumstances they\u2019ve faced and actions they\u2019ve taken. For example, someone may say that no one in her family has attended college because they\u2019re not \u201cacademic\u201d types, which reflects the narrative she and her family have created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Narratives are a stronger influence than objective facts, yet people fail to recognize or vastly underestimate this influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Myth 1: Learning Styles<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      One of the most common learning myths is the belief that everyone has a preferred learning style, though everyone has some ability in each area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      There are many learning styles theories and models, each defining different types of learning<\/a> styles based on different criteria. A common model defines three learning styles: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Auditory: students who learn best through oral presentations, such as lectures<\/li>
      2. Kinesthetic: students who thrive with movement and hands-on learning<\/li>
      3. Visual: students who gain the most from graphs and images<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Many people also believe that students learn best when they\u2019re taught according to their learning styles, but focusing on learning styles tends to limit a student\u2019s views of her own abilities and potential<\/strong>. For example, if a student self-identifies as a kinesthetic learner, she\u2019s less likely to put as much effort into a reading assignment because it supposedly doesn\u2019t play to her strengths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In fact, while it may be true that people have distinct preferences<\/em> about the way they learn, learning isn\u2019t inhibited <\/em>if the style of teaching doesn\u2019t match the learning style. Researchers found that the few studies that had adequately tested the theory either failed to affirm it or debunked it outright. The takeaway was that all students learn best when the instruction style matches the subject of the lesson\u2014<\/strong>such as using visual means to teach geometry, audio to teach foreign language, or kinesthetic to teach physics principles on motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        While it turns out your learning style isn\u2019t a big factor in your ability to learn, the way you see yourself<\/a> and your potential is. This is part of your narrative, which shapes how you interpret your experiences and actions. Your narrative affects your confidence to try new things, how much effort you put forth, and your perseverance in the face of obstacles.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        2. Memory Is Accurate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        Narratives are so strong that they shape how you interpret and remember your experiences.<\/strong> In other words, your memory is inherently moldable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        On one hand, your memory\u2019s pliability is critical to your ability to learn: Everything you learn becomes a memory, and every time you recall that lesson you\u2019re making new connections and creating new cues for that information, which further embeds it in your memory. <\/strong>The ability to add to your memory in this way allows you to deepen your understanding and better retain the information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        On the other hand, your tendency to create distorted memories\u2014and fail to realize that they\u2019re distorted\u2014can be problematic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Illusions of Memory<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

        Memories are mere representations of events\u2014not accurate recordings\u2014and thus they easily become distorted. There\u2019s no way you can remember every detail of an experience. Instead, you remember certain aspects, and when you call up the memory, you unconsciously fill in the details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        This lends itself to memory illusions, such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n