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helenephoebe 's review for:
Beginners: The Curious Power of Lifelong Learning
by Tom Vanderbilt
I found this book really interesting. It leapt out at me from a book account I follow on Instagram. The book examines how we learn things through examples of Vanderbilt learning new skills like juggling, surfing, drawing and playing chess. Having done some online learning and craft stuff during lockdown I was fascinated to read an account of someone who set out to learn completely new skills and try and think about how people learn new things.
The thing I found really interesting was the comparison of how adults learn with how children learn; it's really engaging to try and understand the differences. I was also intrigued with the idea that we learn better in groups rather than on our own, because I've always found that I learn better on my own without distractions.
It was well-written and engaging with a mix of personal experiences, interviews with experts and some of the science behind the brain and how we learn. There is also a discussion of how much we are influenced to learn by the people around us, especially children, when we see them learning things and wishing we had learnt that when we were younger. But there is nothing to stop us learning these new skills as we get older.
I loved the overall idea of this book that learning shouldn't stop as you get older - learning is a continuous endeavour throughout our lives and this book really underlines that. For anyone who is interested in the science of learning, or trying new things but is a little scared of doing so, thinking you're too old, this book is for you.
The thing I found really interesting was the comparison of how adults learn with how children learn; it's really engaging to try and understand the differences. I was also intrigued with the idea that we learn better in groups rather than on our own, because I've always found that I learn better on my own without distractions.
It was well-written and engaging with a mix of personal experiences, interviews with experts and some of the science behind the brain and how we learn. There is also a discussion of how much we are influenced to learn by the people around us, especially children, when we see them learning things and wishing we had learnt that when we were younger. But there is nothing to stop us learning these new skills as we get older.
I loved the overall idea of this book that learning shouldn't stop as you get older - learning is a continuous endeavour throughout our lives and this book really underlines that. For anyone who is interested in the science of learning, or trying new things but is a little scared of doing so, thinking you're too old, this book is for you.