How We Learn

Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine . . . for Now

By: Stanislas Dehaene

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

“There are words that are so familiar they obscure rather than illuminate the thing they mean, and ‘learning’ is such a word. It seems so ordinary, everyone does it. Actually it’s more of a black box, which Dehaene cracks open to reveal the awesome secrets within.”—The New York Times Book Review

An illuminating dive into the latest science on our brain's remarkable learning abilities and the potential of the machines we program to imitate them

The human brain is an extraordinary learning machine. Its ability to reprogram itself is unparalleled, and it remains the best source of inspiration for recent developments in artificial intelligence. But how do we learn? What innate biological foundations underlie our ability to acquire new information, and what principles modulate their efficiency?

In How We Learn, Stanislas Dehaene finds the boundary of computer science, neurobiology, and cognitive psychology to explain how learning really works and how to make the best use of the brain’s learning algorithms in our schools and universities, as well as in everyday life and at any age.

Critic reviews

"There are words that are so familiar they obscure rather than illuminate the thing they mean, and ‘learning’ is such a word. It seems so ordinary, everyone does it. Actually it’s more of a black box, which Dehaene cracks open to reveal the awesome secrets within . . . His explanation of the basic machinery of the brain is an excellent primer.”—The New York Times Book Review

“[An] expert overview of learning . . . Never mind our opposable thumb, upright posture, fire, tools, or language; it is education that enabled humans to conquer the world . . . Dehaene's fourth insightful exploration of neuroscience will pay dividends for attentive readers.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[Dehaene] rigorously examines our remarkable capacity for learning. The baby brain is especially awesome and not a ‘blank slate’ . . . Dehaene’s portrait of the human brain is fascinating.”—Booklist

“A richly instructive [book] for educators, parents, and others interested in how to most effectively foster the pursuit of knowledge.” —Publishers Weekly

Praise for Reading in the Brain:

"Splendid...Dehaene reveals how decades of low-tech experiments and high-tech brain-imaging studies have unwrapped the mystery of reading and revealed its component parts...A pleasure to read. [Dehaene] never oversimplifies; he takes the time to tell the whole story, and he tells it in a literate way."—The Wall Street Journal

"Masterful...a delight to read and scientifically precise."—Nature

Praise for Consciousness and the Brain:

"Ambitious . . . Dehaene offers nothing less than a blueprint for brainsplaining one of the world's deepest mysteries. . . . [A] fantastic book."—The Washington Post

"Dehaene is a maestro of the unconscious."—Scientific American Mind

"Brilliant... Essential reading for those who want to experience the excitement of the search for the mind in the brain."—Nature

Recommending to every educator I know

This is the most up to date book in the progressing multiple sciences of education - I tell everyone!!

Stick with it to the end

While I found the first few chapters boring the last half of the book was great! I believe all parents, teachers, and school administrators would benefit from listening to this book. I have taken several notes for how I can implement these ideas into my classroom.

Subtitle is misleading

This really is a book about learning (as the primary title suggests) slanted toward teaching (and parenting) with a bit of self-improvement thrown in for good measure. References to machine learning and the theory of how our brains learn are few and far between. There is no attempt to address why brains are better than any machine, or even how to measure this. This is unfortunate as this would have been a fascinating topic to explore. That said, this is a very good book if you want to understand "How We Learn." The material is well organized and the arguments are well supported without being overly academic.

So, if you want to learn about "How We Learn," but don't care too much about, "Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine...for Now," you should get this book -- you'll learn a lot. If your interest is primarily about the relationship between "natural" learning and "machine" learning, you will find somethings here, but there are likely better sources.

interesting and informative

good primer on human and machine learning, together with a little glimpse of cutting edge AI mixed in here and there

A must read

Loved this book! As a teacher, I found this book both inspirational and challenging for how I look at learning and methods to help all children achieve their potential. I wish I would have read this book and others like it when I was taking my education classes. So much of the crap I learned in those classes directly contradicts what we know children need in order to learn effectively. This should be a college course for teachers❤️