Why is learning so difficult?

It’s difficult only if you don’t know the right way.

And knowing the right way is difficult, so you can understand the difficulty.

It also depends on what you think learning means. If you think it means being able to recite information and learning facts by heart, then I’m afraid you’ve got the idea all wrong. What you’re trying to do is called memorising, and it’s one of the most pathetic substitutes for real learning.

Learning is difficult because we don’t know how we do it. One moment we’re barely in control and hardly get a hang of some new concept or skill, and a few months later, we’re in a position to help our juniors and compete with others. And the worst part is not knowing how this came to be.

It’s a secret, really, because if you knew how, then you could achieve this blissful state in a lesser time, and sometimes with lesser effort. Actually, the effort remains just the same, only that it is targeted, and therefore not wasted on things which don’t help.

As far as memorising is concerned, mnemonics and visualisation help a lot. But those things only create false associations, and are easily forgotten precisely because those associations don’t depend on too many other ones.

On the other hand, the secret to learning is making real associations. Since this kind of association is a true one, it depends on many other associations that you already know – what you’ve “learnt”.

So all these other associations strengthen the one you’re trying to learn, and you add some new information to your framework of knowledge.

Now, associations can be made on several different levels – associations could be based on sound, sight, and even olfactory, tactile or kinesthetic input. Traditional learning involves sight and sound, so people who are sight or sound learners are more adept at making these kinds of associations than other kinds.

That doesn’t mean others cannot make sight or sound associations. You just have to keep an open mind, and try to find out the relation between things you study. This translates to a blurred boundary between different subjects and the relation of theory to practice within each subject and between subjects.

What we learn in theory is often a lot different from what is practically carried out, with the latter being a better way to do things than the former. But in any case, only when one knows what the inefficient way of doing something is, is one in a position to understand why what is done in practice is better.

The right way to learn, therefore, is to form meaningful, sensible associations so that you can connect what you want to learn with what you’ve already learnt.

That’s how humans have been expanding their understanding for centuries.