Half an Hour: Things You Really Need to Learn

Christy Tucker's personal annotations on this page

Christyinsdesign bookmarked on 2008-10-31 learning education informallearning lifelonglearning

Like several other people, I just found this 2006 post from Stephen Downes on 10 things you should learn that you won't be taught in school. Great thoughts for lifelong learning, wherever you are in life.

1. How to predict consequences
The prediction of consequences is part science, part mathematics, and part visualization.
2. How to read
Oddly, by this I do not mean 'literacy' in the traditional sense, but rather, how to look at some text and to understand, in a deep way, what is being asserted
3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
The first thing to learn is to actually question what you are told, what you read, and what you see on television. Do not simply accept what you are told. Always ask, how can you know that this is true? What evidence would lead you to believe that it is false?
4. How to empathize
Empathy isn't some sort of bargain. It isn't the application of the Golden Rule. It is a genuine feeling in yourself that operates in synch with the other person, a way of accessing their inner mental states through the sympathetic operation of your own mental states. You are polite because you feel bad when you are rude; you are honest because you feel offended when you lie.
5. How to be creative
Creativity, in other words, often operates by metaphor, which means you need to learn how to find things in common between the current situation and other things you know.
6. How to communicate clearly
Communicating clearly is most of all a matter of knowing what you want to say, and then employing some simple tools in order to say it.
7. How to Learn
Learning to learn is the same as learning anything else. It takes practice.
8. How to stay healthy
Finally, remember: you never have to justify protecting your own life and health.
9. How to value yourself
You can have all the knowledge and skills in the world, but they are meaningless if you do not feel personally empowered to use them; it's like owning a Lamborghini and not having a driver's license.
10. How to live meaningfully
If you don't decide what is worth doing, someone will decide for you, and at some point in your life you will realize that you haven't done what is worth doing at all.

This link has been bookmarked by 92 people . It was first bookmarked on 01 Sep 2006, by April.

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This is, in [Stephen Downes'] view, what you need to learn in order to be successful.

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Christy Tucker
Like several other people, I just found this 2006 post from Stephen Downes on 10 things you should learn that you won't be taught in school. Great thoughts for lifelong learning, wherever you are in life.

learning education informallearning lifelonglearning
- 1. How to predict consequences
- The prediction of consequences is part science, part mathematics, and part visualization.
- 18 more annotations...
- - 2. How to read
  - Oddly, by this I do not mean 'literacy' in the traditional sense, but rather, how to look at some text and to understand, in a deep way, what is being asserted
  - 3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
  - The first thing to learn is to actually question what you are told, what you read, and what you see on television. Do not simply accept what you are told. Always ask, how can you know that this is true? What evidence would lead you to believe that it is false?
  - 4. How to empathize
  - Empathy isn't some sort of bargain. It isn't the application of the Golden Rule. It is a genuine feeling in yourself that operates in synch with the other person, a way of accessing their inner mental states through the sympathetic operation of your own mental states. You are polite because you feel bad when you are rude; you are honest because you feel offended when you lie.
  - 5. How to be creative
  - Creativity, in other words, often operates by metaphor, which means you need to learn how to find things in common between the current situation and other things you know.
  - 6. How to communicate clearly
  - Communicating clearly is most of all a matter of knowing what you want to say, and then employing some simple tools in order to say it.
  - 7. How to Learn
  - Learning to learn is the same as learning anything else. It takes practice.
  - 8. How to stay healthy
  - Finally, remember: you never have to justify protecting your own life and health.
  - 9. How to value yourself
  - You can have all the knowledge and skills in the world, but they are meaningless if you do not feel personally empowered to use them; it's like owning a Lamborghini and not having a driver's license.
  - 10. How to live meaningfully
  - If you don't decide what is worth doing, someone will decide for you, and at some point in your life you will realize that you haven't done what is worth doing at all.
Estie Cuellar
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Vicki Davis
A list from Stephen Downes that I hadn't seen entitled "things You really need to learn." A great list to share and reread.

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- Things
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Joy Huang
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- 1. How to predict consequences
- 2. How to read
- 8 more annotations...
- - 3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
  - 4. How to empathize
  - 5. How to be creative
  - 6. How to communicate clearly
  - 7. How to Learn
  - 8. How to stay healthy
  - 9. How to value yourself
  - 10. How to live meaningfully
08 Jul 07

paul fauth
Psychology Education
06 Jul 07

Anthony Casa
05 Jul 07

Eldritch Crank
Interesting thoughts--none of them strike me as obviously wrong, but I need to think about them some more.

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- This is, in my view, what you need to learn in order to be successful. Moreover, it is something you can start to learn this year, no matter what grade you're in, no matter how old you are. I could obviously write much more on each of these topics. But take this as a starting point, follow the suggestions, and learn the rest for yourself.
dekgbnorth
04 Jul 07

dleason
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- 1. How to predict consequences
- The danger in such situations is focusing on what you want to happen rather than what might happen instead. When preparing to jump across a gap, for example, you may visualize yourself landing on the other side. This is good; it leads to successful jumping. But you need also to visualize not landing on the other side. What would happen then? Have you even contemplated the likely outcome of a 40 meter fall?
- 21 more annotations...
- - 2. How to read
  - how to look at some text and to understand, in a deep way, what is being asserted
  - 3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
  - I have written several things to help you with this, including my Guide to the Logical Fallacies, and my article on How to Evaluate Websites.
  - 4. How to empathize
  - Probably the best way to learn how to do this is to study drama
  - make sure you spend at least some time in different role-playing games (RPGs) every day and practice being someone else, with different beliefs and motivations.
  - 5. How to be creative
  - in order to be creative, the first thing to do is to learn to look for problems to solve, things that merit a response, needs that need to be filled.
  - creativity involves a transfer of knowledge from one domain to another domain
  - Creativity, in other words, often operates by metaphor,
  - 6. How to communicate clearly
  - writers employ a small set of fairly standard structures
  - Probably the best way to learn how to structure your writing is to learn how to give speeches without notes. This will force you to employ a clear structure (one you can remember!) and to keep it straightforward
  - 7. How to Learn
  - create patterns of connectivity
  - Some people think of learning as remembering sets of facts. It can be that, sometimes, but learning is more like recognition than remembering
  - you should view the study of mathematics, history, science and mechanics as the study of archetypes, basic patterns that you will recognize over and over. But this means that, when you study these disciplines, you should be asking, "what is the pattern" (and not merely "what are the facts").
  - 8. How to stay healthy
  - 9. How to value yourself
  - Advertisers make you feel badly so you'll buy their product, politicians make you feel incapable so you'll depend on their policies and programs, even your friends and acquaintances may seek to make you doubt yourself in order to seek an edge in a competition.
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'ten things you should learn this school year'

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Chris Lott
Stephen Downes just continues to get better and better (which is kind of irritating in its own way, but that's selfish and petty of me). I'll have to think much more on this post of important things to learn...

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great advice from Stephen

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- 1. How to predict consequences
  2. How to read
  3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
  4. How to empathize
  5. How to be creative
  6. How to communicate clearly
  7. How to Learn
  8. How to stay healthy
  9. How to value yourself
  10. How to live meaningfully
01 Dec 06

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22 Nov 06

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- Things You Really Need to Learn
  
  Guy Kawasaki last week wrote an item describing 'ten things you should learn this school year' in which readers were advised to learn how to write five sentence emails, create powerpoint slides, and survive boring meetings. It was, to my view, advice on how to be a business toady. My view is that people are worth more than that, that pleasing your boss should be the least of your concerns, and that genuine learning means something more than how to succeed in a business environment.
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Stephen Downes list of things we need to learn as 21st century learners

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This is, in my view, what you need to learn in order to be successful.

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