Repetition is the Essence of Learning
A neurologist I’ve worked with claims that repetition is the essence of learning. Like many professionals, he sees everything through the lens of his expertise. The adage here is when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So, it makes sense that my neurologist friend would view learning as an almost mechanical process of the nervous system. There’s more nuance, but he’s not wrong.
Personally, I apply a repetitive approach to learning when a new skill catches my interest. That’s why I’m writing every day for 100 days. And it works. When I made 100 YouTube videos in 100 days, I made rapid progress. It works for most human processes, especially in children. Think of how a baby learns to speak. Do they do exercises in a textbook? No. They babble. They repeat every sound they can possibly generate until the sound they produce matches their intention. A baby’s sounds are in a feedback loop between mouth and brain, learning by repetition. When the desired sound matches the babbling output, the associated brain activity is reinforced. The adage here is nerves that fire together, wire together. The book to read on this topic is The Brain that Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. For a full summary of that book, check out my video embedded below.
So, the neurologist was right. But wait a second — I drive my car every day and that doesn’t mean I’m learning. There’s more to excellence than just putting in the hours, even 10,000 of them. The trick is to keep challenging yourself. The constant struggle of practice pushes your learning to new heights that can’t be reached by repeating easy skills. The adage here is not practice makes perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect. The book to read on this topic is Mastery by Robert Greene. Robert and I discuss deliberate practice at length in the video interview embedded below.
Ok, I practice basketball every day. I’m always challenging myself to advance my skills. I’ve put in 10,000 hours, but I’m not getting any looks from the NBA. What gives? Well, are you short? The harsh truth is that not everyone is set up to make it to the most elite levels in their field. The physical nature of sport makes this crystal clear. I wanted to be an elite runner through most of my childhood, but plateaued early in college. More practice actually left me tired and injured. The adage for this one is life’s not fair. However, you can go pretty far without ideal genetics. My experience as a college athlete shaped my life and gave me tremendous opportunity. If you want to understand how far you get in sport with or without the ideal physical characteristics, the book to read on this topic is The Sports Gene by David Epstein. For more on this, check out my video interview with David embedded below.
I said there’s more to it than repetition, but I would add that repetition is the most important part. In Atomic Habits, James Clear explains the surprising thing that separates the pros in most fields — the ability to keep doing the work when it gets boring. There is no catchy slogan or product I recommend to drive this point home. Just do it.