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How We Learn
How We Learn
Oct 10, 2024 5:27 PM

Author:Stanislas Dehaene

How We Learn

'Absorbing, mind-enlarging, studded with insights ... This could have significant real-world results' Sunday Times

Humanity's greatest feat is our incredible ability to learn. Even in their first year, infants acquire language, visual and social knowledge at a rate that surpasses the best supercomputers. But how, exactly, do our brains learn?

In How We Learn, leading neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene delves into the psychological, neuronal, synaptic and molecular mechanisms of learning. Drawing on case studies of children who learned despite huge difficulty and trauma, he explains why youth is such a sensitive period, during which brain plasticity is maximal, but also assures us that our abilities continue into adulthood. We can all enhance our learning and memory at any age and 'learn to learn' by taking maximal advantage of the four pillars of the brain's learning algorithm: attention, active engagement, error feedback and consolidation.

The human brain is an extraordinary machine. Its ability to process information and adapt to circumstances by reprogramming itself is unparalleled, and it remains the best source of inspiration for recent developments in artificial intelligence. How We Learn finds the boundary of computer science, neurobiology, cognitive psychology and education to explain how learning really works and how to make the best use of the brain's learning algorithms - and even improve them - in our schools and universities as well as in everyday life.

Reviews

This is an absorbing, mind-enlarging book, studded with insights ... Could have significant real-world results.

—— James McConnachie , Sunday Times

An entertaining survey of how science from brain scans to psychological tests is helping inspire pedagogy. Dehaene challenges many tropes [and] describes much of his own pioneering work ... Well translated from the French with some touching references to his upbringing, from the cult film La Jetée to the writing of Daniel Pennac.

—— Andrew Jack , Financial Times

An expert overview of learning ... Dehaene's fourth insightful exploration of neuroscience will pay dividends for attentive readers.

—— Kirkus

Fred's energy and expertise shine through irrespectively of the delivery method, and our 500+ learners this year have commented on clear frameworks, engaging style, and relevant examples every time

—— Tanya Dowling, Global Academy Manager, HSBC

I really like Fred's ability to explain with real life examples. His approach is far from being 'classic academic'; one could say that his is rather the perspective of a 'literate entrepreneur'. Fred is a very good story teller, and he holds your attention throughout

—— Federico Bonatti, CFO Switzerland, IKEA

Fred has brought valuable approaches to strategic analysis that have fast become go-to tools for our team. His sharp intellect, and deep knowledge of the tools left us perfectly equipped to use them in practice right away

—— Jon Page, Head of Technology Strategy, BBC

Sainsbury's have worked in partnership with Fred over many years, to develop the 'Strategic Mindset' of our brightest talent. His content is always hugely popular. Don't miss an opportunity to turn your teams into budding entrepreneurs

—— Stuart Comer, Group Head of Learning & Development, Sainsbury’s

Fred's concise and disruptive ideas have the power to align teams, change minds and speed up innovation

—— Richard Davidson-Houston, Head of All 4, Channel 4

This is a glorious book, with an insight on every page. Above all it taught me that while our individual bodies and brains might reward comparison with our primate relatives, in understanding our social relations we would be much better off comparing the meerkat. And the naked mole-rat. And the bower bird. And the cleaner-fish.

—— Rory Sutherland, author of Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas that Don’t Make Sense

If you've ever wondered why people aren't as cooperative as they ought to be, you'll find the answer right here - mapped out in detail that is full of surprises at every page-turn.

—— Robin Dunbar, Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology, University of Oxford

A fascinating exploration of the ties that bind us from our smallest cell to our grandest society. Raihani reveals the deep evolutionary roots of cooperation, drawing on her own extensive scholarship in an entertaining and insightful new look at the risks and rewards of collaborating.

—— Gaia Vince, author of Transcendence and Adventures in the Anthropocene

A well informed, pithy, provocative overview of the evidence that cooperation is the key to success - for microbes and animals as well as for humans.

—— Tim Clutton-Brock, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Cambridge

Raihani weaves a captivating tale through the tree of life, to show how our own societies are shaped by the same evolutionary games as other animals. A beautiful, compelling and unstoppable read... This book will change the way you view your own behaviour.

—— Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, University College London

A fascinating deep dive into what makes us powerfully social creatures. Raihani takes us on a gripping journey from the Kalahari desert to modern city living. From economics to colonies of reef fish, cooperation is one of nature's marvels and Raihani is a compelling guide.

—— Vaughan Bell, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology

With colourful examples from ants to meerkats and cleaner fish to chimps, Raihani expertly explores the biology and dynamics of social interactions that underpin human cooperation and competition... Essential reading for everyone from ecologists to economists. Kept setting off idea fireworks in my brain!

—— Kevin Mitchell, author of Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are

The Social Instinct is filled with curious intellectual adventures at every turn [and] achieves the difficult task of being accessible to evolutionary novices and experts alike.... A must-read account for anyone with an interest in how cooperation has shaped the world around us.

—— Nicole Barbaro

From cells to cities, cooperation is one of the deepest trends in the living world - and one of real keys to our success as a species. Raihani does a great job of explaining where it came from and why it matters. An insightful, entertaining, and extremely informative book.

—— Steve Stewart-Williams, author of The Ape That Understood the Universe

Nichola Raihani['s]... rewarding analysis ranges from genetics to politics, and from the individual to the international, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

—— Andrew Robinson , Nature

The Social Instinct fascinatingly combines vivid descriptions of the rich varieties of cooperation that exist in the natural world with thoughtful insights into how cooperation between humans is in some ways surprisingly similar and in others very different. A great read.

—— Matthew Taylor

In her energetic analysis, psychologist Nichola Raihani recontextualizes cooperation within the framework of evolution and reveals the competition for survival that still bubbles below its surface... Raihani offers insight into how our hardwired drive to cooperate could help us meet the challenges rushing at us, from pandemics to climate change.

—— Scientific American

[A] bravely exposing deep dive into the emotional murk of her [Havey’s] restless mind….[it] reveals…the irresistible writerly impulse to pin experience to the page.

—— Anthony Cummins , i

[The Shapeless Unease] reads like a dream sequence… Even reading this made me feel dizzy… [Harvey is] a vigorous, eloquent writer… she conveys the way sleeplessness takes you into the death zone of life.

—— Ysenda Maxtone Graham , Tablet

Mesmerising…at times, bitingly funny… [The Shapeless Unease is] an engrossing portrait of the fragility of identity and coherency in the grip of insomnia. I hadn’t read Harvey before this, but her facility with language here captivated me and I’ll be seeking out her novels next.

—— Valerie O’Riordan , Bookmunch

Urgent and full of arresting images and insights.

—— Stephanie Cross , Lady

[The Shapeless Unease] is littered with sharp insights expressed in exquisitely lucid prose but is as amorphous as its title suggests.

—— Keiron Pim , Spectator

It’s a claustrophobic, enlightening, moving, existential treatise on sleep, insomnia and death. And it’s funny, too.

—— Sadie Jones , Guardian

I wish I had saved The Shapeless Unease to read in isolation but Samantha Harvey’s book about insomnia, time, death and so many unknowable things is a blessing to have in lonely times. It is a profound and stunning book but funny, too.

—— Fatima Bhutto , Evening Standard

A beautiful, jagged little book about insomnia and so many unknowable things: life and death, Buddhism, and how language alters our thinking. But I was most struck by its form and structure.

—— Fatima Bhutto , New Statesman

[Samantha Harvey's] cerebral, startlingly clear account of somehow pulling through [from insomnia] carries an electric charge and meditates on not only the mystery of sleep but also writing, swimming and dreams.

—— Net-a-Porter

[The Shapeless Unease] is beautifully crafted and its achievement makes itself more apparent on a second reading.

—— Richard Gwyn , Wales Art Review

A masterpiece, so good I can hardly breathe. I'm completely floored by it.

—— Helen Macdonald

This book seems appropriately messy-haired and wild-eyed... Anyone who has lain awake the night before a big test will recognize such manic flourishes. Harvey captures the 4 a.m. bloom of magical thinking; stories proliferate within stories... To read Harvey is to grow spoiled on gorgeous phrases.

—— Katy Waldman , New Yorker
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