How We Learn
Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine . . . for Now
Ratings7
Average rating4.3
15
Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine . . . for Now
Ratings7
Average rating4.3
“There are words that are so familiar they obscure rather than illuminate the thing they mean, and ‘learning’ is such a word. It seems so ordinary, everyone does it. Actually it’s more of a black box, which Dehaene cracks open to reveal the awesome secrets within.”--The New York Times Book Review An illuminating dive into the latest science on our brain's remarkable learning abilities and the potential of the machines we program to imitate them The human brain is an extraordinary learning machine. Its ability to reprogram itself is unparalleled, and it remains the best source of inspiration for recent developments in artificial intelligence. But how do we learn? What innate biological foundations underlie our ability to acquire new information, and what principles modulate their efficiency? In How We Learn, Stanislas Dehaene finds the boundary of computer science, neurobiology, and cognitive psychology to explain how learning really works and how to make the best use of the brain’s learning algorithms in our schools and universities, as well as in everyday life and at any age.
Reviews with the most likes.
An interesting insight into how children learn, neuroscience, AI and pedagogy. The final sections on teaching techniques, memory consolidation and how being bilingual, learning an instrument or becoming proficient in maths was my favourite.
Great review of the current state of the neuroscience and psychology around learning. Dehaene initially spends a considerable amount of time making comparisons of the brain to modern AI, which might put some readers off. There are lots of valuable insights in the book about the impacts of various factors on learning and retention - some I already knew from previous reading and a long academic journey, but some novel.
Just four out of five stars because, even if the book is really well written, interesting and inspirational I don't understand how this research could already be so mature to address children education and teacher training. Either I am missing some important link or it seems to me that the research reported is still too basics to really be used to address education problems with confidence.
Furthermore, the answer to the title of the book is not actually answered which, however, was kind of expected considering that he's a neuroscientist and not a programmer. But still...the title is misleading.
I loved this book for several reasons and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in some of the neuroscience behind how and why we learn the way that we do. It does discuss some of the mechanisms that align with AI and machine learning but that is not the focus of the text (despite what the title may have you believe). It sparked several different ideas and challenged a lot of misconceptions (Babies do have object permanence:https://www.devcogneuro.com/Publications/Diamond_MITchapter.pdf)
Most importantly it rekindled a passion that I have to education in the formative years (k-5) Regardless of if my life takes me in that direction at some point I do think that text like this should be a required reading for anyone who better wants to understand how and why we learn the way that we do.
I wouldn't say there is anything groundbreaking here but it definitely does a good job reinforcing several foundational pedagogical principles.
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