A core belief of mine is that (almost) anyone can learn (almost) anything, provided they go about it the right way. Surprisingly, this is not a widespread belief. Instead, I think most people tacitly believe that some skills or subjects are simply beyond their mental abilities to learn. Maybe they’re “not a math person.” Perhaps they aren’t linguistically...

Last week, I started discussing the fifteen thinkers who have most influenced my perspectives on learning, starting with the cognitive scientists who have given me my basic mental models for how learning actually works. Today, I’d like to focus on a more eclectic mix of thinkers who have informed my understanding outside the narrow confines of cognitive...

No one develops their worldview in a vacuum. It is a product of your interactions with everyone you read, listen and talk to. I’m certainly no exception. I’ve benefited greatly from the ideas of other people. But often, those thinkers’ ideas aren’t neatly encapsulated in a single, easy-to-read book. Today, I’d like to share some of the people who have...

Last week, I asked readers of my newsletter to send me questions they had about life and learning. You sent a ton of great questions! I picked some of the most interesting/useful ones to answer today. Reader questions are in block quotes, my responses are not. Q: The introduction of the calculator made generations less reliant on mental arithmetic,...

Language learning is a topic close to my heart. Few things are more exciting than talking to someone in a language that was, until recently, incomprehensible to you. But as exhilarating as it is when you get it right, learning a language can also be full of frustration, misunderstandings and embarrassing mistakes. Most of my knowledge of learning languages...

I’ve written a lot of stuff: over 1600 articles, five books (ten if you include those originally published directly to the blog), countless video scripts, email newsletters and more. Quantity, of course, is no guarantee of quality. There are still many things I would like to improve about my writing. Hopefully, given a few more decades of practice,...