【Repost】How to Turn Studying Into a Joy?

🗣️Chatting
1

This article is transcribed by 简悦 SimpRead, original at www.zhihu.com Thoughts Memo​

To speak without much humility, aside from myself, there probably isn’t any other answerer on Zhihu who would directly answer this question. This also reflects the widespread misconceptions about learning. Many people naturally assume: learning is a painful process. This article will tell you they are completely wrong.

Before the main text begins, I want to introduce the theoretical source of this answer, simultaneously one of the authors of our Chinese Localization Group—Dr. Piotr Wozniak[1]:

Wozniak is from Poland, a bona fide expert in the field of learning and memory. For 40 years he has focused on studying learning and memory, continuously optimizing the learning software he created, Supermemo, while recording many thoughts in the field of learning.

If Wozniak saw this question, he would probably be so angry as to get hypertension. The question “How to make learning enjoyable?” already contains a logic: “Learning itself is not enjoyable.” Here I quote Dr. Wozniak’s original words:

“Good learning itself is joyful; without joy, there is no good learning.”[2]

“Learning is as pleasurable as making love.”[3]

I know many readers may have questions here: “Then why can’t I get joy from learning?” The following article will popularize the physiological mechanisms of learning pleasure, causes of learning unpleasantness, and provide a relatively comprehensive answer to this question.

Human brains are naturally eager to learn

Consider these two sentences:

1: Is it ok to eat tomato scrambled eggs tonight? Sure!
2: Never expected that a plain bowl of tomato scrambled eggs would taste like the ancient mythical beast Chiwen!

Dear readers, which of the two sentences do you think can better capture the reader’s interest?

No need to think twice, it must be the second sentence. The first sentence is a dull common conversation, making people have no desire to continue reading. The second sentence highlights the unknown of the “ancient mythical beast Chiwen” amid a bland narration, making people want to keep reading, curious about what this ancient mythical beast actually is.

The first sentence’s dullness comes from being too easy to understand and thus boring. The second sentence’s known + unknown narrative effectively triggers a person’s curiosity.

This example is to tell everyone that the brain reacts similarly to all learned knowledge:

Existing scientific research shows: neuroimaging reveals the anterior hippocampus responds to visual information entropy, and the ventral striatum shows similar findings. This means the human brain responds to “entropy” and judges whether there is a learning opportunity.

The “entropy” of the first sentence is too low. The brain recognizes that words like “tomato,” “egg,” “fried rice,” and “dinner” are known with no unknown. Yet the brain’s reward center precisely needs unknown to activate. When reading the second sentence, our brain identifies “Chiwen,” an unknown mythical beast, thus activating mechanisms related to curiosity.

Constantly exploring the unknown**,** learning the unknown, turning the unknown into the known, then exploring new unknowns—this is human instinct, a manifestation of the biological algorithm encoded in our genes. Humans stand at the top of the natural world, and their exploration algorithm is the most advanced among all living beings.

Humans have evolved the capacity to feel joy when learning the unknown; exploration and learning are human instincts. What makes us human is exactly this exploration and learning. Research has found:

The continuous activity in the brain’s nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area produces pleasure and addiction during learning. [4]

The unknown is the source of learning pleasure. Our brain automatically detects the unknown, thus generating learning motivation.

Many readers may ask here: “Since the unknown triggers learning motivation, does more unknown mean more learning motivation?”

Not necessarily.

The above is merely a simple introduction to the physiological mechanism of learning pleasure; what follows is more critical.

What makes learning unpleasant?

Compare these two sentences:

1: Is it ok to eat tomato scrambled eggs tonight? Sure!
2: If the time slice chosen is too long, the time slice rotation algorithm degenerates into the FCFS algorithm, unable to meet interactive users’ needs.

For most people, compared to the simple and easy first sentence, the second sentence looks like incomprehensible “gibberish.” Understandable, since the second sentence I randomly took from a computer science book; for an outsider, even though every word is recognized, it’s unintelligible when combined.

To put it more technically: almost all of the second sentence is “noise,” while the first sentence contains mostly “information.”

Simply put, “noise” is meaningless data we do not understand, unrelated to our existing knowledge store. For non-computer science readers, the words in the second sentence like “time slice,” “time slice rotation algorithm,” “FCFS algorithm,” “interactive users” are all “noise.”

Contrastingly, “information” is understandable data. The words in the first sentence like “tomato,” “egg,” “fried rice,” “dinner” are all “information.”

You can simply understand “noise” as unrelated unknowns and “information” as knowns.

Too much “noise” and too little “information” cause our brain to over-simplify the input when trying to understand:

High-entropy signals are often uninteresting because there is too much “noise,” which causes the brain to filter out too much knowledge.
Losing too much knowledge decreases the signal’s “entropy,” making it difficult to activate the brain’s reward center.

This also explains why we dislike obscure and incomprehensible language: too many unrelated unknown knowledge, i.e., too much “noise,” causes the brain to filter out most knowledge input, resulting in the experience: “it seems like you’ve read everything, but actually read nothing.”

Therefore, the content we learn must contain unknowns, but avoid unrelated unknowns (noise) that have no connection with existing knowledge stores.

To prevent learning from becoming boring, our study materials must have an appropriate “signal-to-noise ratio.” Excessive “noise” causes more “knowledge loss,” making the brain discard much of the input knowledge, not only preventing us from learning effectively but also making the entire learning process dull.

All the above can be abstracted into a simple truth: learning content should not be too difficult.

By now, you may wonder: since learning pleasure is caused by the “unknown,” and too much “noise” causes the brain to be annoyed and over-simplify, how can we find materials with both unknowns that spark interest and without annoying the brain? In other words, how do we find the true difficulty balance point?

What you love is exactly the best

A professional book in a particular field may be unreadable to outsiders, but easy to understand for experts in this field. The same material has the same “information entropy,” but different people’s brains understand vastly different amounts of information. What is “information” to some is “noise” to others, because each person’s knowledge reserve differs. This determines: the optimal difficulty of learning materials is highly personalized; no single learning material can satisfy all learners simultaneously.

The ensuing question is: “How to find the most suitable learning material for oneself?” Actually, this is a silly question. Because as the most intelligent species, many have forgotten this behavioral principle: trust your brain’s own judgment [4]:

The thalamus processes specific stimuli that may send separate signals to the amygdala for emotional evaluation and to the neocortex for rational evaluation.
The brain immediately assesses all processed knowledge fragments for relevance, coherence, and value. We quickly know whether this information is understandable and useful. If contradictory, incoherent, or irrelevant, we often quickly notice.
Any knowledge entering the brain is valued within the brain’s knowledge evaluation network; information with high valuation activates the reward center.

That is, the brain judges which knowledge is valuable and which is not. When the brain detects high-value information, it signals the reward center, giving us learning motivation, i.e., learning intrinsic drive [5], eventually producing learning enjoyment.

As mentioned above, too much “noise” and the lack of “unknown” are judged by the brain as boring. Knowledge that is neither too easy nor too hard, that connects with existing knowledge in the brain and activates the reward center, is the most suitable.

Interestingly, the most suitable learning content is often what we love the most. Because only knowledge of appropriate difficulty is evaluated as high value by the brain, triggering the brain’s reward mechanism for knowledge and making us want to learn. The more suitable the content, the more we want to learn.

Actually, this sentence reversed is more accurate: The more we want to learn, the more suitable the learning content is.

The more we favor a particular field’s knowledge, the higher the brain values that knowledge, thus forming positive feedback: the more you learn, the more you like it; the more you like it, the more you learn.

Similarly, if we dislike a certain discipline’s knowledge, the brain values it low, making it harder to acquire motivation and joy for learning.

In short, the best learning materials are precisely the ones you love most. The brain combines known information with rational and emotional evaluation to decide which knowledge is most suitable, selecting the optimal topics, directions, and difficulty.

For example, a firefighter does not need woodworking knowledge, so the brain’s rational evaluation of woodworking skills scores low. Conversely, for a math enthusiast, the brain emotionally rates all math and even all number-related knowledge highly.

To achieve the best learning effect, all we need is to indulge the brain. In other words, listen to your inner voice, respect the brain’s interests, respect the difficulty level the brain chooses. What the brain likes is the best.

But the thing that obstructs us from choosing appropriate materials and enjoying learning is often nothing else but school.

Why school is wrong

Dr. Wozniak, who has spent forty years in learning and memory research, found results that greatly influenced his views on education. In fact, he is a staunch opponent of traditional compulsory school education. He even wrote a book titled “I Will Never Send My Children to School”[6]. He believes traditional compulsory education should be completely abolished. He said [7]:

“Modern schools do not educate children but actually harm many children. Schools should be tools for a new Renaissance or new Enlightenment movement; however, they have become instruments of oppression, depriving children of freedom and love for learning.”
“The main problem with the education system is a one-size-fits-all approach, where all children are put through the same knowledge assembly line, with little consideration of key components for effective learning: learning intrinsic drive.”
“I wake up every day still unable to believe the existence of the old Prussian factory school model.”

Wozniak is a lifelong learner who loves learning and also an expert in this field; we have no reason not to seriously consider his viewpoint. The public generally thinks that schools help students learn, but is this really the case? In the 21st century, thanks to global internet development, all learning materials we want are accessible on electronic devices with just a finger click, no school needed.

Many believe that without school discipline, students won’t proactively learn. However, brain science has already confirmed the physiological mechanism of learning pleasure. Also, prehistoric studies show that children learned much knowledge playing in hunting-gathering times, helping them cope with complicated adult life later. Moreover, great scholars and scientists in history mostly learned driven by their interests and immersed in the truths they discovered.

Conversely, most students who experienced compulsory education end up hating learning for life; their curiosity about knowledge is completely extinguished, equating “learning” with “coping with exams,” synonymous with “pain” and “inferiority.” They almost entirely lose the ability to learn. Not only that, schools teach knowledge very inefficiently. For example, most students learn English for ten years, knowing only 3,000–4,000 words and can’t speak more than five sentences, while many zero-base self-learners become fluent in English after one or two years.

The biggest sin of school is two words: compulsion. Students are not allowed to study what they love or freely choose difficulty. Long-term compulsion causes students to dislike what they learn, reduces the brain’s valuation of all knowledge, and enters a vicious cycle of disliking learning. This greatly suppresses learning intrinsic motivation, making them unwilling to learn proactively and only keep learning under external pressure. There’s no doubt this approach is inefficient or even ineffective.

The school education method violates the natural mechanism of human brain learning. This turns learning from joy into pain.

Children should never be burdened with what they have to learn, nor should it be imposed as a task. Otherwise, they immediately dislike it; even if they originally liked or neither loved nor hated it, they will feel disgusted.
— John Locke [8]

Postscript

As a free learner, I deeply feel that learning itself is joy and can become an enjoyment, the most precious gift bestowed to humanity by heaven.

At the same time, I also lament the miseries of countless students.

Like everyone, I also once suffered from the ravages of the education system. I thought all tragedies were fated and unavoidable.

But after encountering the free learning [9] concept, I realized that criticism against compulsory education [10] is not just meaningless complaints from students—it has solid scientific theoretical support behind it. Simultaneously, I found hope and a way out from some free learners.

With the dream of changing all this, I decided to spread our voice. Articles under this account will continuously systematically criticize existing school education systems and share ways out in this era, including free learning, internet-based learning, spaced repetition [11], and more.

Everyone is welcome to leave comments and express their thoughts. Likes help spread articles to more people. Of course, those who agree with us can follow our future work.

Thanks to every reader who reads this article; your reading is the greatest respect to our work.

Related Reading

叶峻峣: 0 Table of Contents of “I Will Never Send My Children to School”
What do you think China’s current education most lacks?
叶峻峣: 100+ Bad Habits That School Imposes on People

This article adapted from

The Joy of Learning

References

  1. ^ Piotr Wozniak https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/303204832
  2. ^ Basic Learning Principles https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/273225977
  3. ^ Schooled people do not understand free learning https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Schooled_people_do_not_understand_free_learning
  4. [1](#ref_4_0)b The Joy of Learning https://www.zhihu.com/question/429432467/answer/1578551193
  5. ^ Learning Intrinsic Motivation https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/52990549
  6. ^ “I Will Never Send My Children to School” https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/73383015
  7. ^1 Foreword https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/52805512
  8. ^2 Proverbs https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/52990307
  9. ^ Free Learning https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/272543239
  10. ^ Compulsory School Education https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/351869026
  11. ^ Efficient Spaced Repetition Learning https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/420105707

Parents’ Language​Recently, I read a translated article titled “The Joy of Learning,” translated by Cui Jiahui.

Some say that the pain in learning is unavoidable. I cannot deny that.
Because throughout my education from childhood to adulthood, I have also been deeply tormented by various assignments, exams, and papers — big and small.
However, deep in my heart, I have always harbored a secret wish — I hope someone can prove to me that learning is not only about pain.
I want to be persuaded in this way: learning can bring happiness! This happiness is not the joy experienced after achieving good grades or scholarships through hard study, but the joy that the learning process itself can bring.

Reading this passage touched me deeply. Not because I have also been tormented by the pain of learning to the point of desperation, but because my experience is exactly the opposite of most people. In my learning journey from childhood to adulthood, I have always felt that learning is joyful, and that joy is either from the good results after learning or from the learning process itself which is very enjoyable.

Through continuous reading and learning, I have come to understand that learning can truly become a joyful thing. It requires mutual achievement and support from three aspects: goals (mindset), habits, and methods, in order to continually gain happiness.

Success leads to interest. Interest comes from small achievements and small successes.

1. Goals (Mindset)

What do we want to do? First, the goal must be specific and clear. For example, my goal is to let my child grow up happily. But the happiness I speak of is not indulgence in doing whatever they want, but a fulfilled sense of accomplishment.

Distinguish between freedom and ease. Freedom is about external struggles; all freedoms are fought for; ease is about closing oneself off and cutting ties with the outside world — that’s ease. “All troubles stem from interpersonal relationships.”

It must be understood that learning is a form of growth. Growth always involves pain, but the relaxation after hardship is the greatest joy — it is fulfillment. One needs to “go with human nature to do things, and grow against human nature.”

Someone said that the three elements to accomplish a task are: hypothesis-driven, reality-based, and logically consistent path strategy.

Give a great significance to what you want to do for yourself, reach 100% firm belief, and even if someone reduces your belief by 20%, you still maintain 80%, then restore back to 100% firm belief again.

When I read Yu Minhong’s article “A Pile of Scattered Bricks” on “The Reader,” I defined writing a little every day as “picking up a brick,” hoping to build a small house in my heart. This became the second step — a habit.

2. Habits

In “Cognitive Awakening,” six levels of cognition are mentioned: environment, effort, ability, choice, identity, meaning. When we have awareness of identity, we need habits to support how to reach that identity.

Habits are simply the optimal choice after multiple repetitions. For example, when a child cries, parents will hold them; so the child cries to be held, or cries to get something, testing if it works. Children constantly push boundaries, trying to see how to meet their desires.

Parenting requires “gentle but firm execution.”

I believe in “Treating Time as a Friend,” where all success depends on accumulation, a principle I keep practicing.

Forming a habit is the “laziest” method. Getting up early every day and using “non-time” to write a little or read an article then is no big deal.

Those who truly understand living in the future must first live well in the present.

3. Methods

Of course, everything has methods: “To do a good job, one must first sharpen one’s tools.” But no matter how good the learning method is, it only works during the learning process. Without learning, no method is useful.

Habits in doing things are the “laziest” method, and methods will naturally be developed during the learning process.

Self-awareness and reflection are called the two wings of learning. Having wings allows one to fly; flying allows faster learning.

Learning is just about constantly sewing together others’ knowledge into your own knowledge system—“consistent throughout.”

To encourage children to study, I drew a diagram, not sure if I made it clear.

In short, to make learning a joyful thing, you need to experience success; success leads to interest.

Because of the saying “only success generates interest,” I bought a book “Treating Time as a Friend.” Unable to understand it alone, I joined a group, met friends who practiced writing down what they learned, getting involved and learning to do; then came “Cognitive Awakening,” where I realized happiness is a skill.

Once you perceive the joy of learning, learning itself becomes a joyful thing. As the saying goes, “Is it not a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned?”

A task goes through five stages: unknown, understanding, trial practice, experience, advocacy. At each stage, small successes and achievements push behavior to the next stage. Interest comes from this process. GnosEdu​

Let me directly present a summary of some related literature. These “joyful learning methods” are more systematic and scientifically backed. I hope you find them helpful after reading! :smiley:

1. Find Intrinsic Motivation:

Research shows that for our intrinsic motivation, learning itself is a reward. Suitable intrinsic motivation can also trigger deeper learning engagement and better learning outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

If you can find a learning direction that aligns with your personal interests and values, you will experience more enjoyable learning (Covington, 2000).

2. Set Achievable Goals:

We can break large learning goals into smaller, measurable ones, which helps maintain motivation and a sense of accomplishment (Locke & Latham, 2002).

Celebrate each small goal achieved, which can enhance self-efficacy and learning pleasure (Bandura, 1997).

3. Active Engagement:

We should actively learn techniques that aid learning, such as scientific note-taking, efficient discussion, and practical application methods. This approach has been proven to improve comprehension and memory (Prince, 2004).

Multisensory learning can make our learning process more lively and stimulate more effective motivation (Mayer, 2009).

4. Adopt a Growth Mindset and Value the Learning Process:

Using a growth mindset, viewing every challenge as an opportunity to improve learning, can increase learning enjoyment and make persistence easier (Dweck, 2006).

We can redefine our mistakes as learning experiences, helping us cultivate a more positive and resilient attitude toward the learning process (Kapur, 2016).

5. Use Diverse Learning Methods:

Unlike traditional one-size-fits-all methods, we can customize learning strategies according to personal preferences and strengths, increasing engagement and effectiveness (Pashler et al., 2008).

Combining multimedia and technology-enhanced learning can make the learning process more interactive and attractive (Mayer, 2014).

6. Connect with Others in the Learning Process:

Collaborative learning and interaction can enhance motivation, understanding, and overall learning experience (Johnson & Johnson, 1999).

Learning in a group provides learners with emotional support and a shared sense of purpose (Wenger, 1998).

7. Emphasize Rest and Recharge:

Regular breaks and physical activity help reduce cognitive fatigue and improve learning effectiveness (Deslandes et al., 2009).

Rest and leisure activities help maintain positive and sustainable learning (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

8. Value the Power of Celebrating Small Goals and Rewards as Positive Feedback:

Acknowledging and celebrating every progress, no matter how small, can enhance positive emotions and a sense of achievement (Locke & Latham, 2002).

Positive reinforcement and rewards can cultivate a more intrinsic motivation and joyful learning experience (Deci et al., 1999).

If you want to know the specific contents behind each method’s literature, please refer to the “References” at the end of the article for the exact sources. Though summarized briefly, each method should help you understand the advice. Feel free to leave a comment if you have questions.

Summarizing in words is not easy. If you like it, please click “Agree” and “Follow” — this is very important to us! Love you all! :heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:

References:

  1. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67.

  2. Covington, M. V. (2000). Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation in schools: A reconciliation. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(1), 22-25.

  3. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717.

  4. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman.

  5. Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(3), 223-231.

  6. Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

  7. Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

  8. Kapur, M. (2016). Examining productive failure, productive success, unproductive failure, and unproductive success in learning. Educational Psychologist, 51(2), 289-299.

  9. Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105-119.

  10. Mayer, R. E. (2014). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

  11. Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1999). Learning together and alone: Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning (5th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

  12. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.

  13. Deslandes, R., Rivard, M. C., Chartrand, J., Trudeau, F., & Sharma, S. (2009). Aerobic exercise and stress levels in university students: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 4(1), 41-54.

  14. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.

  15. Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627-668.

  1. a ↩︎