You Cant Learn Something Until You Already Almost Know It

Can you say "tautology"? Hmm, see TrivialOnceUnderstood

From OnlySayThingsThatCanBeHeard:

One thing I learnt from studying then teaching was that YouCantLearnSomethingUntilYouAlreadyAlmostKnowIt. The trick to teaching or talking people around to your way is to move them in small steps. -- JohnFarrell

I HaveThisPattern.

Most people do, I think, but many do not realize. I don't know where I read about the BalloonModelOfKnowledge, but [as mentioned in TooMuchToRead] I suspect GoedelEscherBach.

The idea is that your knowledge is like a balloon. You can expand it by moving the surface outwards, since the new knowledge must reference the old. Hence YouCantLearnSomethingUntilYouAlreadyAlmostKnowIt.

There is the corollary that the more you know, the more interesting things there will be for you to pursue (larger surface of the balloon). Hence, perhaps, problems with ConcurrentReading.

Possible explanation for YouCantLearnSomethingUntilYouAlreadyAlmostKnowIt extracted to FuzzyAndSymbolicLearning.

This phenomenon is mentioned in Steve Wozniak's autobiography, iWoz. He notes that the Apple I's concept of combining a video terminal and a computer in one case appeared to be a significant change, but in his mind it was a simple decision. He had previously developed a MitsAltair?-like microcomputer, but found it limited by its unfriendly switches-and-lights interface. He had also developed a video terminal, which was good for communicating with powerful computers from a distance. Combining the two was just the next logical step.

The USA forefathers studied and debated the lessons of the ancient Greek and Roman systems of government when setting up the Constitution, and of course lessons from Europe. It wasn't out-of-the-blue.

See also: OpenClosedMindPrinciple, ZoneOfProximalDevelopmentTheory, MetaLearning, DoItAgainToLearn, EdgeOfOurKnowledge

CategoryEducation CategoryCommunication CategoryMind