The Brain is a Living Structure

Group A studied the paper for four sessions. Group B studied only once but was tested three times. A week later, both groups were tested, and Group B scored 50% higher than Group A.

Our memory is not a tape recorder. It is a living structure, a scaffold of infinite size. The more we generate impulses, encountering and overcoming difficulties, the more scaffolding we build. The more scaffolding we build, the faster we learn.

You position yourself at a place of leverage when you can capture failure and turn it into skill. The trick is to choose a goal just beyond your present abilities, to target the struggle. It is about finding the sweet spot. There is an optimal gap between what you know and what you are trying to do. When you find that sweet spot, learning takes off.