Learning - How it Works & How to Do it Better ft. Seth Godin
Summary
TLDRThis video debunks misconceptions about learning and explains how true skill development works. It emphasizes that skills are not innate but built through repeated practice, forming stronger brain circuits. The video also discusses the concept of 'deep practice' and how the brain's myelin production enhances learning. It addresses how the fear-driven 'lizard brain' can hinder progress and advocates for embracing discomfort to improve. The key takeaway is that anyone can improve at any skill with the right mindset and practice, illustrated by insights from experts like Seth Godin.
Takeaways
- 😀 Learning is one of the most important skills, yet many misconceptions surround it.
- 🚴♂️ Skills like riding a bike, dancing, or public speaking are learned through brain circuits, not natural gifts.
- 🧠 Milin (myelin) in the brain strengthens circuits, improving skills with repeated practice.
- 🎯 There are no 'innate' talents like a dancing or math gene; skills are developed through repeated effort.
- 🏗 Aristotle taught that people become skilled by doing — practice builds ability.
- 🔄 Growth mindset is crucial for learning; believing you can learn is the first step.
- 😓 The 'lizard brain' or amygdala, a remnant from our evolutionary past, often triggers fear and avoidance of new challenges.
- 🐉 Trying to fight the lizard brain increases its power; instead, recognize its signals and push through fear.
- 👶 Babies and high achievers ('butt kickers') excel at learning because they embrace the unknown and practice consistently.
- 💪 Embracing discomfort and failure as part of the learning process is essential to mastering any skill.
Q & A
What is the main misconception about learning that the video aims to dispel?
-The video dispels the misconception that people are born with certain skills or talents, like a 'dancing gene' or 'math gene.' Instead, learning skills is about forming connections in the brain through practice and effort.
How does the brain physically change when learning new skills?
-The brain forms new circuits that are wrapped in a substance called myelin. The more you practice a skill, the more myelin is produced around those circuits, allowing you to perform the skill faster, better, and more accurately.
What role does the concept of 'deep practice' or 'deliberate practice' play in learning?
-Deep practice or deliberate practice involves engaging fully, pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, making mistakes, and repeating the process. This type of practice is essential for building and reinforcing the neural circuits responsible for a skill.
Why does the speaker mention Aristotle in the context of learning?
-Aristotle is referenced to emphasize that learning by doing is a fundamental principle. He said, 'Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it,' meaning practice is key to mastering any skill.
What is the 'lizard brain,' and how does it affect learning?
-The 'lizard brain' refers to the amygdala, a part of the brain that triggers fear and caution, causing people to avoid risk and discomfort. It hinders learning by encouraging people to stay in their comfort zones, resist challenges, and avoid mistakes.
What does Seth Godin mean when he says he fails 'with relish'?
-Seth Godin embraces failure as part of the learning process. He sees failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, understanding that the discomfort of not knowing or making mistakes is a necessary part of mastering new skills.
Why does the speaker say it is impossible to defeat the 'lizard brain'?
-The speaker explains that fighting the 'lizard brain' only strengthens its influence. Instead, it’s more effective to 'dance' with it—acknowledge the fear it creates and use it as a signal that you're on the verge of something important, then act despite the fear.
How do 'butt kickers' succeed at learning, according to the video?
-'Butt kickers' are people who excel because they understand how learning works. They embrace discomfort, push themselves outside their comfort zones, and persist through failures, using deep practice to continually improve.
What is the importance of having a 'growth mindset' in learning?
-A growth mindset is the belief that you can improve and learn new things through effort and practice. This mindset is crucial for learning because it encourages persistence, openness to challenges, and the willingness to make mistakes.
What evolutionary explanation does the speaker provide for why our brains are wired to learn?
-The speaker explains that in prehistoric times, learning skills that helped with survival (like hunting or building) was essential. The brain adapted by becoming efficient at learning and improving at tasks that were repeated often and required effort.
Outlines
🚴♂️ Understanding Skill Development and Dispelling Misconceptions
In this section, the speaker introduces the idea of learning as a skill that can be cultivated through effort, rather than something innate or 'in your blood.' They challenge common misconceptions like 'natural gifts' and phrases like 'muscle memory,' explaining that skills are the result of building neural circuits through repetition. The brain's ability to improve is enhanced by a substance called myelin, which strengthens these circuits the more they are used. The speaker emphasizes that no one is 'born' with a specific skill, and highlights Aristotle's perspective that learning happens by doing. Essentially, people excel at activities like public speaking or basketball because they have practiced more than others. This means anyone can improve at anything with practice, shattering excuses like 'I'm not a math person.' The takeaway is that we can get better at anything we invest time and effort into.
👶 The Power of Babies and 'Butt Kickers' in Mastering Learning
This paragraph contrasts the majority of people who struggle with learning against two groups who excel: babies and 'butt kickers.' These two groups, which make up about 10% of the population, have mastered the art of learning because they embrace failure and the unknown. The speaker references Seth Godin, who shares his perspective on learning through failure and discomfort. Godin explains that being 'thirsty' to learn means being willing to feel stupid or out of control, as this is when real learning happens. The secret to success, according to this mindset, is not in one's genes but in being open to making mistakes and pushing through difficult situations. The speaker uses this to illustrate the importance of confronting the discomfort and tension that come with learning, rather than avoiding them.
🦎 The Lizard Brain's Impact on Fear and Learning
This section delves into the battle between the 'lizard brain' (the amygdala) and the human brain, particularly in the context of learning. The lizard brain, a remnant of our evolutionary past, is wired to prioritize survival, shelter, and safety, leading to irrational fears and behaviors in modern times. These fears can manifest as social anxieties, resistance to change, and avoidance of risks—behaviors that once protected us but now hinder learning. The speaker argues that the lizard brain's fear of failure or making mistakes prevents us from stepping outside our comfort zones, which is essential for growth. The core idea is that the lizard brain's caution, which served ancient humans well, now holds us back from embracing new experiences and learning opportunities.
💃 How to Dance with the Lizard Brain, Not Fight It
The final paragraph shifts from trying to defeat the lizard brain to learning how to 'dance' with it. Seth Godin returns with advice on how to handle fear and self-doubt—core components of the lizard brain—by not fighting or resisting them. Instead of letting these fears control our actions, we should recognize them as signals that we are about to do something bold, brave, or important. Great artists and thinkers often experience fear and doubt, but they succeed by acknowledging those feelings and pushing forward anyway. The key message is to embrace the lizard brain's warnings, thank it for its input, and continue on the path of growth and learning despite those fears.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Learning
💡Muscle memory
💡Myelin
💡Deep practice
💡Growth mindset
💡Lizard brain
💡Comfort zone
💡Mistakes
💡Deliberate practice
💡Amygdala
Highlights
Learning is one of the most important skills, with many misconceptions about how it works.
Learned skills are not natural gifts; they are connections and circuits in the brain strengthened through practice.
Myelin production wraps frequently used circuits, making skills faster and more accurate.
Deep practice, or deliberate practice, increases myelin production, enhancing skill development.
There's no such thing as a natural gift for specific skills; skills are developed through repeated practice.
Aristotle’s wisdom: Skills are learned by doing the activity itself, not through innate talent.
People who excel at skills have practiced more, not because they were born with the ability.
The brain is designed to learn what we do most frequently and what is most challenging.
Learning works best when you believe you can learn, engage deeply, and frequently step outside your comfort zone.
Two groups excel at learning: babies and high achievers (the 'butt kickers'), who understand and apply learning principles.
The amygdala, or 'lizard brain,' is responsible for fear and seeking safety, hindering learning by avoiding risks and change.
The lizard brain’s fears are irrational and do not reflect actual threats in modern life.
Learning involves managing the tension between the curious, learning-focused human brain and the fearful lizard brain.
You cannot defeat the lizard brain; instead, learn to work with it as a guide to identify brave, bold actions.
Great artists and achievers succeed by acknowledging their fears and taking action despite them, using fear as a compass.
Transcripts
learning is one of the most important
skills in the whole world except there's
a ton of misconceptions out there about
it in this video I'm going to knock
those down I'm going to show you how it
actually works and I'm going to teach
you how to do it better give me the next
few minutes of your time and I promise
this is going to have an impact on your
life this is a good one let's
go riding a bike dancing shooting a bow
and arrow dribbling a basketball public
speaking these are all learned skills
but what are they and where do they
actually come from we hear a lot about
muscle memory and other phrases like
natural gifts or it's in her blood or he
was born to do
whatever yeah so those are all a bunch
of crap learn skills are nothing more
than connections and circuits in your
brain and the more you fire that circuit
the better you get at it there's this
awesome stuff called milin that wraps
the circuits that you use the most
allowing you to do whatever it is faster
better and more accurately milin
production can be increased with deep
practice more on that later sure there
are absolutely some things that you're
born with that can give you a head start
in certain areas we're talking height
and body type or whatever but as far as
specific skills are concerned there are
no no gifts there is no such thing as a
three-point shooting Gene a riding Gene
a friendliness gene or a dancing Gene
like for real there's not let's take it
back to Aristotle for some words of
wisdom whatever we learn to do we learn
by actually doing it men come to be
builders for instance by building and
heart players by playing the heart in
the same way by doing just acts we come
to be just by doing self-controlled acts
we come to be
self-controlled and by doing Brave acts
we become
Brave so people who are better than you
at writing singing speaking playing the
trumpet playing pingpong handstand
walking are better because they have
done it more than you and develop more
ment around those circuits than you have
this reality can be a little unsettling
for some of us because we lose our
excuses so you're not not a math person
you just choose not to be a math person
and no you don't have two left feet you
just haven't danced enough on the plus
side if we understand how this works we
can truly get better at just about
anything that we invest the time and
effort into let's jump back a few
thousand years and take a closer look at
the brain to see exactly how all of this
works you see this outer part of the
brain I think the scientific term for it
is actually learning machine pretty sure
it's Latin or something this is what
makes us human and the reason we've been
around for so long and continue to
flourish and grow it's seriously built
to learn and get good at the things we
do the most most urgently and that are
the hardest from an evolutionary
standpoint this makes total sense way
back in the day I'm talking caveman
times if we did something a lot that was
hard and a little bit outside of our
current abilities we were basically
saying to our brain hey yo this is
probably important and will help us
survive we should get good at this and
the brain was all like sure sure I got
this stuff called milin let me go ahead
and wrap those circuits with it so every
time we do it we can get better at
it so rather than being pre-wired to be
good at certain things our brains were
designed to learn what we do the most
this is how we got good at hunting
building things and moving up the food
chain good job brains and thank you
milin times have changed but our brains
have not learning and getting good at
things isn't the key to survival like
we're not going to starve if we don't
know how to
hunt but it's still pretty damn
important and understanding how the
brain works can help us do it better the
real key here is to find the learning
sweet spot that primes the brain to
produce myin some people call this deep
practice other people deliberate
practice some cats even call it training
ugly no matter the name the formula is
pretty straight forward first believe
that you can learn this is all about
having a growth mindset be engaged
stretch outside of your comfort zone do
it a lot make a lot of mistakes and do
it more
this is all well and good and should be
common knowledge it's backed by Decades
of science if you read any book about
skill or Talent Development they're
going to give you a similar formula but
there's a small problem there are only
two major groups of people that have
this whole learning thing down pat and
they make up only 10% of the population
these two groups are the babies and the
butt kickers the butt kickers you know
who I'm talking about these are the
people who just seem to kill it and
every way possible Pro tip they're not
killing it because of their genes they
simply understand how learning really
works and know how to apply it to their
situation to get some insight I track
down one of the most prominent butt
kickers of our time Seth Goden hi my
name is Seth Goden I'm the author of 17
bestsellers I've started a bunch of
companies I write a blog but mostly I
fail I fail often and I fail with relish
because I understand that when when I do
something that might not work I'm doing
my best work the people who are good at
learning say I like the feeling of not
knowing yet the same way that people who
are good at skiing say I like the
feeling of being just a little bit out
of control that's how you get good at
skiing and that's how you get good at
math the difficulty comes from the fact
that if you are not open to living with
the tension of being stupid you can't
possibly learn it I call it thirstiness
if you are
thirsty it means that you are willing to
feel stupid you are willing to try you
are willing to expose yourself to the
unknown in order to State what your
desires are to get to the next level so
we have the babies and the butt kickers
learning like maniacs and honestly the
rest of us could use some work but why
is this there are hundreds of variables
in play here but to keep on track we're
going to stay focused on our brains
let's head back into our brain because
there's a battle going on in there that
you need to know about okay so you see
this little almond shaped thing in the
middle of the brain this thing can be a
real stickler when it comes to learning
it's called the amydala but for now
we're going to go ahead and call it the
lizard brain you know we're animals
animals have been on the surface of the
Earth for millions of years we evolved
from animals because we still are
animals and the thing about wild animals
is wild animals all have something in
common with us we have the brain of a
wild animal and the brain of a wild
animal wants shelter safety Revenge
reproduction that's it that's what makes
it a wild animal well as we evolved we
added this other brain but then we add
we wrapped it all around this amydala
this brain back here it's about the size
of two almonds and that part of our
brain the amydala is the brain of a wild
animal it is hotwired to be afraid it is
hotwired to seek safety and it saved Our
Lives when there were saber-tooth tigers
and it saved Our Lives when getting
thrown out of the village meant that you
were going to die in the jungle but now
it's left over but it's still there our
lizard brains are built to live and
survive the craziness that was hundreds
of thousands of years ago which leaves
modern humans with a number of
unfortunate traits including an
obsession with fitting in avoiding
change and avoiding risks so we're all
here in 2014 with a persuasive and
easily freaked out lizard brain who
still thinks it's 50,000
BC it's what makes you feel weird about
going to a restaurant or movie alone
it's what makes you get married before
you're ready to a person you're not in
love with it's what makes you resist
challenging situations fear mistakes
avoid risks get nervous on first dates
feel a need to fit in avoid leaving our
comfort zones it's what makes us
hesitate about speaking up in class or
interacting with our boss this fear
protected us back in the day but from a
learning standpoint it's holding us back
now and if we really look closely at
this we see that the lizard brain's
fears are totally irrational almost
nothing you're socially scared of is
actually scary or threatens you in any
way so here we are today with a war
going on in our brains are curious
hungry to learn human brain versus our
scared and protective lizard brain take
a look around and it's obvious to see
which one is winning so are you thinking
what I'm thinking let's figure out how
to defeat and kill the lizard brain and
become butt kickers I asked our friend
Seth exactly how to do this so I'm I'm
thrilled to ask the question that way
because that is exactly the wrong
question if you are seeking to destroy
defeat conquer the lizard brain you will
fail it cannot be done because when you
try to fight the lizard brain you are
giving it more power your brain is
nothing but a chemistry experiment it's
electricity and chemicals and when you
push back on the lizard brain when you
try to reason with the lizard brain when
you just say one more this or one more
that or don't worry it inflames and
releases more chemicals you cannot win
what you can do is dance with a lizard
brain what you can do do is realize that
the lizard brain is a compass and then
when it freaks out it is telling you you
are on to something when it freaks out
it's telling you you're about to do
something that's Brave and Bold and
powerful and you should listen to it by
doing the opposite of what it wants you
to do that when we listen for the lizard
brain and welcome it and thank it for
giving us a
clue then we can use it to our own ends
so if you talk to the great artists of
all time every of any time what you see
is they do their best work in the
moments when part of their brain is
telling them it will never work they'll
never amount to anything they're a fraud
they're going to get caught they're
afraid those are the moments you say yes
thank you and do it
anyway thank you so much for watching
and I would love it if you would share
this video with a friend see you next
time
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)