Most of us are learning wrong. We memorize, we repeat, but we don't truly understand. Today, I'll show you how Senica's ancient wisdom, backed by modern cognitive science, can transform how you master any skill. You know when you have one of those, how come nobody ever told me this moments? I had one last week when quite by chance I discovered this. The Roman philosopher Senica wrote it about 2,000 years ago, and it covers a lot of subjects. As I sat reading it, the chapters on learning intrigued me the most because the methods he described, writing in his toga, reclining in his domas, have been shown by modern cognitive science to be the most effective you can use. Practices that lead anybody, and that includes you, to profound knowledge and understanding, not just superficial memorization. And despite its age, the wisdom in these pages will teach you more than anything school ever did. It might change how you learn forever. Today we're uncovering Senica's secrets to life and learning. One of my biggest regrets is that I spent too much time learning science and not enough on philosophy. And if I could go back in time, I'd tell my 18-year-old self to read as many philosophy books as I possibly could as though my life depended on it. Because eventually, the search for all knowledge and understanding leads to philosophy. Not because it provides answers, but because it shows us how to ask questions. As Bertrand Russell put it, philosophy keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect. And Senica is a good place to start because his writing is accessible and his advice, despite being 2,000 years old, is relevant and actionable. He wrote dramas, philosophical essays, and a collection of work called Letters from a Stoic, which contains essays disguised as letters giving advice on how to deal and cope with situations that life throws at you. He discusses health, money, friendship, confidence. It's a bit like an early self-help book, you know, but actually useful and not a trollection of platitudes. But it's his exploration of learning that we're going to focus on and one essay in particular that gives valuable insights and guides the way to reaching expertise in anything you want to accomplish. It's this one on the futility of learning maxims. If you haven't read any senica and you're interested in becoming a better learner, you'll enjoy this. It contains a crucial insight on how to learn and highlights a trap that can ensnare the unaware. See if you can work out what he's alluding to because the pitfall he's describing is a common cause of learning failure. For this reason, I hold that there is nothing of eminence in all such men as these who never create anything themselves, but always lurk in the shadows of others, playing the role of interpreters, never daring to put once into practice what they have been so long in learning. They have exercised their memories on other men's materials, but it is one thing to remember, another to know. Senica is describing the illusion of knowledge. We're experts at selfdeception. It's convenient. When you're reading a book or learning a new topic, how often do you mistake recognition for insight? You recognize and remember the words on the page, but that's superficial. You can't synthesize ideas from the concept those words are describing. So, here's an example. E= MC^². You might recognize this equation. It's probably the most famous in the world. But does that mean you understand it? What are the underlying concepts? Why is it significant? How does it relate to other equations and ideas? It's unfair to ask you that. You're probably not studying physics, but when you're learning, how often do you confuse recognizing the words on the page with understanding? I still do it even though I know what it is and I actively try to avoid it. It's so easy to confuse the two, but one is learning and the other isn't. Senica recognized this and was disparaging of what he called notebook knowledge. For a man to chase after choice extracts and prop his weakness by the best known and the briefest sayings and to depend upon his memory is disgraceful. It's time for him to lean on himself. He should make such maxims, not memorize them. And modern research backs this up completely because what is learning? Defining it is harder than you might think. Is it memory? Well, memor is required, but there's much more to learning than memorization. When I was young, before smartphones, we memorized phone numbers in case of emergencies. And I still have about a dozen numbers in my head for people I haven't seen in decades. The numbers are stored in memory, but I haven't learned anything useful. Is it understanding then? Well, yes, but even that's not enough. I understand why The Godfather is considered a masterpiece. you know, the character development, cinematography, and storytelling, but that doesn't mean I could direct a film. Senica intuitively grasped something that wouldn't be formally understood until 1956 when educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom created a framework that explains exactly what real learning looks like. It's called Bloom's taxonomy. Bloom realized that learning is split into two categories. One uses lower order thinking and the other higher order thinking. And if you want to develop real expertise, insight, and understanding, then higher order thinking is essential. And he spelled out what that means. Low level thinking involves memorizing, attempting to understand, and applying information. But at the higher level, you're analyzing patterns, evaluating ideas, and creating something new. Expertise is forged here. And that's exactly what Senica was describing in his essay on the futility of learning maxims. In one section, he says, "Remembering is merely safeguarding something entrusted to the memory. Knowing, however, means making everything your own." Keep that in mind next time you're learning something. Ask yourself, is this just notebook knowledge or am I analyzing, evaluating, and making everything my own? This question will transform how you learn anything. Remember that his ancient wisdom is validated by modern learning theory. If you want to see more examples of how Senica applied this thinking, the original essay is short and packed with insights I couldn't cover here. I would urge you to take a break from scrolling and read it. 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