How we learn

From an early age, we are told that restlessness, distraction, and ignorance are the enemies of success. Learning is all self-discipline, so we must confine ourselves to designated study areas, turn off the music, and maintain a strict ritual. But what if almost everything we were told about learning is wrong? And what if there was a way to achieve more with less effort? Here, award-winning science reporter Benedict Carey sifts through decades of education research to uncover the truth about how our brains absorb and retain information. What he discovers is that, from the moment we are born,…