How your brain learns new information

The Daily Drip

Everyone around you is having their own experience.

They have their own worldviews and beliefs about what is true.

They have their own experiences that have validated or challenged their beliefs.

They have their own story that they tell themselves about why and how they are where they are.

Yeah, yeah, we're all snowflakes and all that.

My point is around how we each learn new things.

Here's how this is relevant.

Our experiences and beliefs help shape how we experience the world and new information.

Since our brains are wired to feel things first and THEN think, this can really mess up our beliefs.

We feel first and then we explain that feeling with some rationality.

If we use Vygotsky's learning model, we can better understand how new information can get into our brains.

There are 3 "zones" of proximal development, as Vygotsky calls them.

1. The Comfort Zone

Here, life is good. Not too hot, not too cold. While learning new information can occur here, it's not the best for making it stick. While there's nothing scary, there's nothing really that interesting either.

Words that describe the Comfort Zone:
Safe, secure, stable, easy, bored, comfortable, predictable, normal.

2. The Learning Zone

This is where there is enough excitement that our senses are heightened. By having heightened senses, our ability to notice new things and remember them is enhanced. This is why something like Minecraft works well for teaching kids to code. By using a fun game with bright colors and music, kids are more excited about what they're working on.

Words that describe the Learning Zone:
Willing to risk, anticipating, exhilarated, challenged, alive, excited, discovering

3. The Panic Zone

Obviously, we want to avoid this. This is where risk feels uncomfortably high. Your brain may be in "fight or flight mode" and all systems are focused on survival. This diminishes creativity, openness, and your ability to consider new points of view. This is where possible psychological damage like PTSD lives.

Words that describe the Panic Zone:
Stressed, fearful, tense, exhausted, fed up, worried, anxious, annoyed, frustrated, tired

OKAY!

I hope this helps frame how people around you are most likely to learn, innovate, and be creative. Each person will have slightly different zones. It's up to each of us to empathize with the proximal zones of others as well as be the scientists of our own zones.

Be a scientist of yourself and use what you know to activate others.