"I'm a visual learner" is a myth, Jevons paradox, How to evaluate talent

Weekly I/O #93: Learning Style Myth, Jevons paradox, Status and Idea Seekers, Kahneman on Importance in Life, Accept Truth and Source

Hi friends,

Here's your weekly dose of I/O. I hope you enjoy it!

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Here's a list of what I learned this week.

1 "I'm a visual learner" is a myth. There is no scientific evidence that tailoring instruction to learning styles can improve learning.

Paper: Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence

Are you a visual learner? Many people state preferences for how they want to learn, but extensive research has consistently failed to support that matching a teaching technique to a preferred style will improve learning.

In other words, the belief that we should tailor teaching styles to individuals' learning styles is not supported by scientific research despite being very widespread and endorsed.

In 2008, the psychologist and cognitive scientist, Pashler, in his Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence first concluded that "there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning styles assessments into general educational practice." Cedar Riener and Daniel Willingham in their paper The Myth of Learning Styles (2010) also argue that "there is no credible evidence that learning styles exist."

They highlighted that while students may have personal preferences for how they receive information, these preferences do not translate into improved learning outcomes when their instruction is tailored accordingly. The American Psychological Association even stated that belief in the learning styles myth may be detrimental because educators might spend time and money tailoring instruction to learning styles despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting this approach.

This belief can sometimes even harm learners by causing them to mistakenly perceive certain subjects as impossible to learn. For example, "visual learners" might believe they cannot learn music.

So what should we do? Educators should follow evidence-based practices and teach with strategies that engage multiple senses and cognitive processes for all students instead of addressing the diverse needs of learners.

Learners should let go of the misconception that they can only learn in one specific style. Don't be confined to that pigeonhole!

2. Jevons paradox: Increased efficiency in resource usage can paradoxically lead to increased consumption, not decreased.

Article: Jevons paradox - Wikipedia

Jevons paradox is the idea that making something more efficient can unexpectedly cause people to use even more of it rather than less.

Economist William Stanley Jevons first noted this in 1865. He saw that when technology made coal easier and cheaper to use, people used more coal overall, not less. Because coal became cheaper, more people used it, and they used it for more purposes.

Another example: if cars become more fuel-efficient, driving each mile will cost less. However, because it's cheaper, people might drive more often or take longer trips. In the end, total fuel use might actually go up instead of down.

I first learned this from Satya Nadella's tweet on AI efficiency. AI making workers more efficient might increase the demand for their labor rather than decrease it.

This also reminds me of Baumol's Cost Disease.

3. Events that rapidly exchange ideas allow you to evaluate whether a person's true interest lies in status or ideas. Status-seekers want to maximize attention from the perceived elite, while idea-seekers focus on advancing knowledge and stimulating curiosity.

Book: Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World

Events that rapidly exchange ideas, like a networking dinner gathering, offer a quick window into what truly drives an individual: status or curiosity. They allow you to evaluate whether a person's true interests lie in status or ideas.

Status-seekers focus on capturing the attention of the perceived elite. They want to showcase themselves rather than their ideas.

On the other hand, idea-seekers focus on advancing knowledge and stimulating curiosity. They oftentimes frame their conjectures as inviting questions rather than definitive statements.

4. "Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you are thinking about it." — Daniel Kahneman

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I was thinking of this quote when reading Daniel Kahneman's last email before he chose to end his life. I also found this excerpt from the email worth pondering:

"I have believed since I was a teenager that the miseries and indignities of the last years of life are superfluous, and I am acting on that belief. I am still active, enjoying many things in life (except the daily news) and will die a happy man. But my kidneys are on their last legs, the frequency of mental lapses is increasing, and I am ninety years old. It is time to go."

5. "Accept the truth from whatever source it comes." — Maimonides

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Recently, I've caught myself unfairly dismissing certain opinions solely because of my preconceptions about the people expressing them. Similarly, I’ve also noticed that when someone I admire states an opinion, I sometimes accept it at face value without independently evaluating it.

This line from Rabbi and philosopher Maimonides in the Shemonah Perakim serves as a reminder and also brings to mind the Three Attribution Traps I wrote before.

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Recap

Try answering these five simple questions to review and reinforce what you've learned: