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“Learning how to Learn” will be next generation's most needed skill

109 points by Brajeshwar

by ivan_ah

0 subcomment

We could simplify it even further: it's all about intellectual stamina.
From my personal experience and from my observations of others, the limiting factor to learning is the availability of mental energy to persevere/endure in the learning process.
You have a problem. Either an academic homework problem or a real-world problem of some sort (think error message in the console). You try one thing but it doesn't work... then another, and still you're not making progress. You're starting to realize solving this problem is not obvious and will require some "brain sweat" and you have to make a choice whether to invest the hour (or day!) of your time to learn enough to solve your problem.
Learners willingness to persevere in their efforts to solve the problem depends on lots of factors, but most importantly they are conditional on the level of learners' interest/motivation (intrinsic or extrinsic). Ideally, learners will be motivated purely by the "knowledge buzz" of learning new concepts and seeing the connections between them, but any source of motivation is OK: as long as it pushes/pulls you enough to go through the necessary learning and solve the problem.
I recognize that learning to learn is a useful multiplier, but learners need to have base rate of (1) intellectual stamina (brain muscles?) and (2) interest/motivation to push through. Otherwise learning is not going to be happening.

by freefaler

3 subcomments

The best practical book I found that is way better than overly generic books on "deep work" is Jason Skycak's "Advice on Upskilling"
https://www.justinmath.com/books/ (scroll for the second one)
He is a math guy, who worked in Wall Street and then left and now works on math academy buidling models to improve learning.
It's great, well researched and practical book. However, it's not easy at all. Go check it out. It's free and he has published google docs version.

by toast0

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> Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad'Dib knew that every experience carries a lesson.
-- from "The Humanity of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

by dfxm12

5 subcomments

The importance of "learning how to learn" has been emphasized by all of my teachers since I was in highschool, or maybe even 8th grade, decades ago.
My computer engineering professors also emphasized user centered design. For one of Google's top scientists to bring this up is an admission that they won't, or can't, design a good user experience for their tools.

by borroka

2 subcomments

One issue that is not discussed enough when talking about learning is mental preparation for learning. We have all had days when learning seemed easier than on other days, but we didn't pay too much attention to it, or we thought that the subject we were learning was more favorable to us, or we classified it as one of the many inexplicable or unrepeatable circumstances of life.
While we understand the importance of warming up for physical activity and recognize the need for a certain aptitude for running, weightlifting, or boxing, when it comes to more intellectual activities, we often leave things to chance: sometimes we are more alert and receptive, while at other times we are less so.
Over the years, I have found enormous benefit in practicing autogenic training, a more Western and scientific version of meditative practices that today seem to arouse the interest of those who deal with these things. I am mentally more alert, more receptive, and learning, which is always challenging, is faster.

by uninformedprior

1 subcomments

If you need to learn how to learn then you don't know how to learn. How can you learn to learn if you don't know how to learn?
Jokes aside I'm really into learning science and make youtube videos covering learning and learning papers + an ipad app. I keep a running list of my favorite learn-to-learn resources here:
https://www.ahmni.app/blog/learn-to-learn-resource-list
If I had to recommend only one resource it would be: The ABCs of How We Learn: 26 Scientifically Proven Approaches, How They Work, and When to Use Them by Schwartz

by theturtle

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For decades, I've said
You don't go to college to get a job
You don't go to college to get a degree
You don't go to college to learn things
You go to college to LEARN HOW TO LEARN
If you do that, all the other things will come to you.
If you get out of college and have not learned how to learn, your "degree" is toilet paper.

by Earw0rm

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Long has been.
Best bit of career advice I ever got, back in the 90s: "Get really good at the help system".
(At the time, it was MSDN DVDs).

by csours

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I know we're all good little rational kids here, but even rationalists need to learn about emotions. Strong emotional responses are currently holding back human advancement. If you look closely at history, it has been always thus.
** "in my opinion" is always implied, unless a source is given **
Reading about airline crashes has radically changed how I view blame.
The way I was raised and the choices I made as an adult have given me a relatively rare point of view: people are made of humans, and humans are made of animals, and animals have limited capabilities.
I can explain someone's actions, or I can excuse someone's actions, and the difference is largely in the mind of the beholder.
Social punishment is micro and macro. On the macro it looks like shared morality and it feels like safety. On the micro it looks like emotional invalidation and it feels like danger and isolation.

by fzwang

2 subcomments

I run a program for high schoolers to emphasize this skill. However, the entire K-University pipeline is designed around credentialism. Ie. do whatever you need to, cram/cheat/regurgitate, to get the rubber stamp. It's really hard to communicate the importance of self-directed education/learning how to learn when the vast majority of students' formal educational experiences tell them otherwise. Very frustrating but perhaps things are changing ...

by Mathnerd314

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there is a book/course by that name, it's decent I would say https://www.amazon.com/Learning-How-Learn-Spending-Studying/... https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

by bshacklett

1 subcomments

We’re in dire need of this right now. The number of people that I work with who refuse to pick up new tools and technologies is astounding. If they _do_ try something new, they seem to avoid all but the most basic knowledge of whatever it is, and look at me crosseyed if I suggest going the slightest bit deeper (`git add -p` rather than `git add .`, for example).

by majormajor

3 subcomments

"Teach to the test" started this a while ago - memorizing and then forgetting bullet points vs engaging more deeply with a subject.
If we're lucky, LLMs force people to put more effort into assignments and grading and then that would help kids learn to learn as well.

by back2dafucha

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Xlation: Classic Corporate America Condescension.
Trust me if google can do something anyone can. They are trying to "define" what "they" "want" from a "compliant workforce"

by bryanrasmussen

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first off it doesn't seem to be taught at the moment, but also I'm pretty sure that has always been the most important and foundational skill, and it seems like there might be an upper bound for what percentage of people can actually learn it.

by obbie3

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Learning is a nontrivial skill even though it has historically been treated as such. It requires an embodied understanding of concepts from basic cognitive psychology, expertise theory, behavioral-affective psychology, metacognition, and more. Until people stop with the platitudes of "learning how to learn is important" and start teaching/training the subject directly as a skill that must be acquired, this will not change.
Simply showing a learner a few slides on spaced retrieval will not cut it.

by lemonberry

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I'd place this skill, "Learning how to Learn", with Cal Newport's notion of "Deep Work". Part of me wants to say that the latter is a precondition of the former, but I'm not sure that's the case.

by MaysonL

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https://idriesshahfoundation.org/books/learning-how-to-learn...

by rolph

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Google's top AI scientist says 'learning how to learn' will be next generation's most needed skill
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-google-ai-scientist-gene...

by mightybyte

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One of my favorite pieces on this topic is this talk "Stop Treading Water: Learning to Learn":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0XmixCsWjs

by singpolyma3

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This is every generation's .ort needed skill

by quantum_state

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Learning how to learn is the most important skill to acquire in school. If I may add, learning how to learn effectively is a lifetime journey.

by seydor

1 subcomments

I think all knowlwdge "work" is bust. Selling knowlwdge will be like selling knitted socks.
People who do stuff will make money

by pdntspa

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Leaning how to think critically is what the next genertion's most needed skill SHOULD be

by confidantlake

1 subcomments

Feels like a bit of a useless cliche. Being able to learn has far more to do with iq than any pedagogical technique.

by tobr

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Terrible article. Did Hassabis really say ”learning how to learn” is itself a skill, like the article paraphrases it? Surely the skill isn’t that you can learn how to learn, the skill is that you know how to learn. Just like ”learning to ride a bike” isn’t a skill; it’s something you do once, leading to a useful skill.
”Learning how to learn” sounds vaguely insightful just because of the repetition, but if you think for a bit about what it actually means it falls apart.

by everyone

1 subcomments

Imo it's simple, just learn by doing and making stuff.

0 subcomment

by 6stringmerc

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As a Curriculum Designer and OG dial-up Millennial I agree wholeheartedly. Too late though. Enlightenment, collaboration, and advancing human experience isn't profitable.
In other words, until one learns how to hammer a nail, it's unreasonable to assume knowledge of how to tell another to do so. AI is no exception. It's speed-running US society's final threads being severed, and okay, sigh, here we go. No, I'm not interested in fixing the problems he's identifying.
My ex had a saying from bench science..."if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitant." That part. Off to go live in a van down by the river...

by alexashka

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This generation's most needed skill is being born to rich parents.
But it'll be totally different in the next generation. Trust me, bro, I'm rich - so I must know what I'm talking about.

by o4c

1 subcomments

/s !
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You will Learn the following things:
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Beginer Projects: Wafer stage design. Model nano tech projects. Small nuclear fusion reactors. Portable TEM machine.
Pre-req: Just enough maturity. You should be curious, persistence & hardworking. We assume you will practise problem solving till you die.
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