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Holistic learning is the opposite of rote memori-ation. Instea" of learning through force,
your goal is to create webs of information that link together.
.onstructs are forme" from mo"els, chunks of un"erstan"ing that aren!t completely
accurate but can be use" to sole problems.
You create webs of information, constructs an" mo"els by iscerali-ing, metaphor an"
e#ploring
Holistic learning works with highly conceptual information where there is an un"erlying
system. It "oesn!t work well with arbitrary information or skills.
!able o" #ontents
$ A Quiz and a Contest
% Holistic Learning: Introduction
&' Holistic Learning VS Rote Memorization
&& Creating a Construct
&( Start With a Model
&$ How to Learn Holistically
&) Method ne: Visceralization
&% Method !wo: Meta"hor
*' Method !hree: #$"lore
** Criticisms o% Holistic Learning
*+ Summary
*) Continuing With Holistic Learning
It/s alrea"y noon an" I/m getting that
gnawing feeling in my stomach like a small chil"
making "eman"s in a toy store. I tell myself it/s
lunchtime an" that seems to satiate me as if I 0ust
tol" the ki" he might hae the toy if he 0ust shuts up
for a bit. The intercom interrupts me an" calls me
"own to the office. )hat now1
&2ooks like you hae a test to write,* the secretary says cheerfully. )hat1 I "on/t
remember being aske" to write a test. 3y stomach seems to snarl at me in contempt of my
earlier attempts to placate it. &4ust go "own the hall, you can write your e#am in there.*
.hemistry. 5ne of those scholastic contests. 6sually multiple choice. 'lthough they are
suppose" to test you on the course material, they always slip in +uestions base" on stuff you/e
neer een seen before. 7robably to separate out the ki"s that 0ust went to class an" those that
went to e#ten"e" stu"y sessions an" bought 6niersity te#tbooks. I 0ust wish I ha" known
about it beforehan".
4ust get it oer with. )e "i"n/t coer
most of the +uestions in class, but a little bit
of creatiity can go a long way. I hae si#ty
minutes, but I finish in forty. 2ikely a silent
bargain my subconscious ma"e with my
"igestie system.
Three weeks go by.
&.ongratulations. 2ooks like first place.* Ten names go "own in "escen"ing or"er.
I feel a bit of pri"e being the only person outsi"e the big city to be on the list. (irst
place an" a check for a little un"er fie hun"re" bucks. 8ot ba" for less than an hour.
6n"esere" Talent1
I shoul"n/t hae been able to win that contest.
I wasn/t taught more. 5er half the material on the test was on concepts that were only
aguely familiar. I ha" to write an essay on the chemical properties of soap. The only time soap was
mentione" in my class woul" hae been in a reference to washing your han"s.
I "i"n/t stu"y more. 3y a"ance" warning hoere" at aroun" fie minutes. I can only
assume that the other nine names liste" along with me on the contest results probably at least knew
they were writing it. 9ien the prestige of the contest, I/m guessing they probably at least opene"
their te#tbooks to stu"y.
I "i"n/t try har"er. I "i"n/t bother checking oer my +uestions. I 0ust colore" in the "ots,
wrote the essay an" han"e" it in.
The worst part though, I wasn/t entirely surprise". 'lthough this was my first big win, I ha"
always "one well aca"emically. I rarely stu"ie" for tests an" e#ams an" when I "i" stu"y it was
closer to a +uick skim than a "etaile" session. School was neer really more than an abstraction
while I worke" on more interesting pro0ects.
To someone who struggle" at school or een for someone that coul" succee" but ha" to work har",
my success seems pretty un"esere". This first story may seem like an unnecessary "isplay of braa"o.
:ut I write about my success, howeer minor, not because I/m so special but because I/m actually fairly
common.
I hae met, known an" researche" many people who ha" what appears to be a similar gift. 'n
ability to un"erstan" things effortlessly. )hether insi"e the classroom or in life, certain people seem to
hae a knack for +uickly un"erstan"ing concepts. It can manifest itself in the humble genius who works
as a 0anitor but can tell you about any ma0or historical eent or an $instein who reolutioni-es our way of
thinking an" the worl" we lie in.
This bothers me. I/m not satisfie" with the e#planation of gifte"ness or innate talent. That soun"s
more like an elitist e#cuse "eise" by the smart to e#plain why their results can/t be replicate". I wante"
to know how some people manage" to learn faster. I wante" to know whether it was more than 0ust a
gift but an ability that coul" be practice".
7sychologists hae known for a long time that intelligence is partially genetic an" partially
enironmental. So it can be easy to "ismiss e#ceptional smarts as being from genes, great parenting or
something in the water. :ut remember, before "yes, hair color was entirely genetic too. ' superior
strategy for learning can help shift what was once only a gift to an ability that can be traine".
Holistic 2earning
To say the "ifference in intelligence is the result of a single skill woul" be naie at best an" a gross
misrepresentation at worst. 3ost researchers beliee genius is comprise" of numerous abilities from
creatie problem soling to athletic or musical skill.
:ut in my obserations of how I learn an" how other people, far more intelligent than myself, learn
there was one factor that really stuck out. 7eople who learne" concepts easily "i"n/t learn the same way
other people "i". It wasn/t that they were using the same strategy more effectiely. These people were
operating from a completely "ifferent approach that a casual glance coul" easily miss.
I call this approach, holistic learning. Holistic learning is basically the opposite of rote
memori-ation. Instea" of trying to poun" information into your brain with the hopes it will simply fall
out when you nee" it, holistic learning is the process of weaing the knowle"ge you are learning into
eerything you alrea"y un"erstan".
<ote memori-ation focuses on learning
through in"ii"ual bo#es of information. 2ike a
computer filing system, eerything is neat,
organi-e" an" separate from each other. You hae
a bo# labele" science, one for history, one for the
moie you watche" last week an" another for your
0ob. These bo#es are split into more bo#es. Your
science bo# has a separate one for biology an"
physics. 7hysics has uni+ue bo#es for "ifferent
formulas an" concepts.
The problem is that your brain isn/t a computer
filing system. It/s a network of interconnecte" neurons.
)hen you nee" information you are 0ust hoping that
you stumble upon the threa" that lea"s to the bo# you
want. 5therwise you/re screwe".
Holistic learning is messy. It "oesn/t put things
into bo#es neatly. Instea" it tightly interweaes
concepts together. Science concepts remin" you of
history which remin" you of the moie you saw last
week an" the pro0ect at your 0ob tomorrow. )ithin
each general sub0ect area, your web is een more tightly
interwoen. $ery concept in physics is linke" with
almost eery other.
.
' tight web means that when one pathway is blocke", there are hun"re"s of others that lea" to the same
point of information. Tight webs may seem like an abstract concept, but you know the feeling when you hae
one. ' tight web results in the feeling of &getting* it. You un"erstan" the sub0ect or concept so thoroughly
that aspects of it seem obious an" triial.
)hen I ha" to write the essay portion of my e#am the sub0ect was the chemical composition of soap.
8ow our chemistry class neer coere" soap, or een organic molecules. So how "i" I write the essay1 I use"
the web I ha" create". Thinking about soap remin"e" me of a brief i"eo I saw in biology comparing soap
molecules to fat. It also remin"e" me of a trip to a reenacte" pioneer settlement where they were making soap
from animal fat an" lye. $ach piece of information on its own is incomplete, but together they were strong
enough that I ha" something to write about.
.omparing <ote 3emori-ation to Holistic 2earning
<ote 3emori-ation