"A brain is not a computer. We are not blank hard drives waiting to be filled with data."
— Brooks, David (b. 1961)
Author
Work Title
Date
May 3, 2012
Metaphor
"A brain is not a computer. We are not blank hard drives waiting to be filled with data."
Metaphor in Context
The most important and paradoxical fact shaping the future of online learning is this: A brain is not a computer. We are not blank hard drives waiting to be filled with data. People learn from people they love and remember the things that arouse emotion. If you think about how learning actually happens, you can discern many different processes. There is absorbing information. There is reflecting upon information as you reread it and think about it. There is scrambling information as you test it in discussion or try to mesh it with contradictory information. Finally there is synthesis, as you try to organize what you have learned into an argument or a paper.
Provenance
Reading
Citation
David Brooks, "The Campus Tsunami," The New York Times (May 3, 2012). <Link to NYTimes.com>
Theme
Blank Slate
Date of Entry
05/09/2012
