We can only get better as people and in what we do by learning. That’s easy to say and much harder to do. In this article, we investigate the different ways we can learn and something called ‘deep knowledge’. It might be the key to unleash your audio production potential.

Life-long Learning

Learning isn’t just about our early years and a formal education. Learning should be a life-long existence. By learning, we grow and develop both as people and what we can do.

How We Learn

Learning can occur through various methods and in a wide range of settings. Here are some key aspects of how we learn:

• Perception and Sensation: Learning often begins with the sensory perception of the world around us. Our senses, such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, provide us with information about our environment.

• Attention: To learn, we need to focus our attention on specific stimuli or information. Selective attention helps filter out irrelevant information and concentrate on what is important.

• Memory: Memory plays a critical role in learning. There are different types of memory, including sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Information must be encoded and stored in memory for learning to take place.

• Cognition: Learning frequently involves cognitive processes like thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. These processes allow us to understand, organize, and apply knowledge.

• Association: Many forms of learning are based on the principle of association. We connect new information or experiences with existing knowledge or experiences to make sense of the world.

• Reinforcement and Feedback: In behaviourist theories of learning, reinforcement and feedback play a crucial role. Positive reinforcement strengthens the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated, while negative reinforcement reduces the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.

• Social Interaction: Much of what we learn is acquired through social interaction. Observing and interacting with others, such as parents, teachers, peers, and mentors, can be a powerful means of learning.

• Experience and Practice: Learning often involves trial and error. Repeated practice and experience help us develop and refine skills and expertise.

• Transfer of Learning: The ability to apply knowledge or skills learned in one context to another is an important aspect of learning. This is known as the transfer of learning.

• Metacognition: Being aware of our own thought processes and learning strategies is metacognition. It can help us become more effective learners by allowing us to monitor, evaluate, and adjust our learning methods.

• Motivation and Emotion: Motivation and emotion can strongly influence the learning process. A person who is highly motivated to learn something is more likely to engage with the material and remember it.

• Feedback and Reflection: Receiving feedback on one's performance and reflecting on the learning process are essential for improvement. Constructive feedback helps individuals identify areas for improvement.

• Technology and Online Learning: In the digital age, technology and online resources have expanded the ways we can learn. E-learning platforms, educational apps, and online courses provide new avenues for gaining knowledge and skills.

• Neuroscience and Brain Plasticity: Advances in neuroscience have shed light on the brain's ability to reorganize itself through neural plasticity, which is the basis for learning and memory. Understanding the brain's mechanisms can inform teaching and learning practices.

Learning is a lifelong process, and it can take place in formal educational settings, informal contexts, or self-directed learning. Different individuals may have unique learning styles and preferences, so effective teaching and learning often involve adapting to the needs of learners and employing a variety of strategies and resources.

Shortcuts are Short-Sighted

By shortcuts, we are not referring to keyboard shortcuts and macros. These can be incredibly helpful.

When it comes to learning and life in general, some people take shortcuts and follow routes with what are effectively ‘get-rich-quick’ invitations. ‘Do these 5 things, and your business will be profitable in just 5 days’. Or ‘Use AI tools to do 90% of your work for you’. We have all seen them; social media feeds are full of these cons. This type of learning is shallow knowledge and may help for a time, but because it doesn’t join the dots up or explain the bigger picture, the outcome is that sooner or later, the learner will fail.

Put It All Together

It is really important to establish the ways you learn best and to focus on those. As we have already said in this article, people rarely learn by using one method of learning. We learn best when we combine several.

For example, some people can’t learn by reading a lot or going through long theoretical courses. They cannot absorb and retain large amounts of information in one go. This is because they learn best by doing.  They start by getting some input, whether it's from a book or other form, and then immediately have a go and not being afraid to fail. They fail. They learn from their mistakes and get better. Effectively, it is trial-and-error but isn’t random trial-and-error, like finding out what happens when you press this button. They learn about what should happen when they press the button, then they press the button, and sometimes it does what they expect, and sometimes it doesn’t So they review what went wrong, determine a new plan and try again.

Deep Knowledge

However, people learn, the best outcome is to gain deep knowledge, and that is, knowledge built on skill and experience, which can’t be gained from shortcut solutions. People who care about creative problem-solving and critical thinking. All of which require deep learning and deep application.

The phrase that comes to mind here is that ‘it takes 20 years to be an overnight success’.

Our aim is to help more people, whether you are working as part of a team in a large facility or as a solopreneur, to create deep, satisfying skills that give you confidence, freedom and joy - with enough income to support your needs and dreams.

To this end, we have been exploring different ways we can help people, so watch out for an announcement coming up.

Images from Tim Mossholder, Brett Jordan and Mimi Thian.