About Learning

learn (verb): to gain knowledge or understanding of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience.
This is the dictionary definition.

We learn by instinct first, and later we add the choice of what to learn. A baby will learn, incredibly fast, that if s/he cries Mom or Dad will come and see what is going on. On the other hand, this Mom or Dad will learn, sometimes incredibly slow, that their baby cries because s/he is uncomfortable (name it hungry, sleepy, dirty diaper, sick).

Later in life we learn what we want or need to learn. We learn to walk, to hold the spoon, to tie our shoes, to read. We learn things in different ways: by observing, listerning, reading, and finally doing those things. But the learning process does not finish at the doing stage. The complete learning experience is when you actually comprehend the big "why". No matter what it is. You can learn how to fly a kite, and you may learn this when you are four years old. But in future years you should keep thinking about that kite and why it flies. It is only then that you will be able to understand the concept completely, and later teach others. I believe this is, in part, why people keep attending school to study a specific topic for many, many years.

External factors have a tremendous impact on our learning process. Typically, it is harder to learn something when we have to and easier when we want to. It is easier to learn when you do not have a clue about the topic or you click delete and unlearn to start the process fresh. Our mood and self esteem also play an important role in the learning process. Thinking that you will never understand something makes it harder.

The question might seem to have a concise answer, but I guess it does not. We'll see how discussion goes at class tomorrow.