Cheery Friday Greetings from Learning How to Learn! Dec 16, 2016
5th January 2017
Cheery Friday greetings to our Learning How to Learners!
Books of the Week
This week, we’d like to recommend “Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics,” by Richard H. Thaler. “The creative genius who invented the field of behavioral economics is also a master storyteller and a very funny man. All these talents are on display in this wonderful book”—so wrote Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman about Thaler’s book. Kahneman himself, of course, is the author of perhaps the greatest book in psychology, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Another not-to-be-missed classic in this area is Dan Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us.
Barb’s interview on National Public Radio’s “Innovation Hub” Here’s Barb’s interview with Kara Miller on National Public Radio’s “Innovation Hub” about her struggles with math and her finding a way to teach it so that other can succeed in math, too. Don’t miss her three learning takeaways!
College Smart
In the mail, we’ve gotten notice of the new book College Smart: How to Succeed in College Using the Science of Learning, by Nicholas Soderstrom of the Bjork Labs—a fountain of outstanding educational research. College Smart will show you in clear, simple terms how you can use breakthroughs from the science of learning to study smarter in college-or for anything else, for that matter. You may wish to check this out if you’re looking for a good holiday present for the student in your life! (And don’t forget our own ever popular A Mind for Numbers, now in 11 languages!)
The surprising self-interest in being kind to strangers
Barb’s friend Amy Alkon gave a TED talk on “The surprising self-interest in being kind to strangers.” It starts slow, and ramps up to a finale that can change lives—including yours. Enjoy!
What does it feel like to do math?
Here’s an interesting discussion by Andrew Wiles, the mathematical legend who solved Fermat’s last theorem, of what it feels like to do world class mathematics. Note particularly how he describes accepting feelings of being stuck—and also the value of a less-than-perfect memory. [Hat tip: Joe Muskatel]
That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!
Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team
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