science

Learning How to Learn

Learning How to Learn is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Learning How to Learn rather than just read about it. In short: Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way is a book by the writer Idries Shah that was first published by Octagon Press in 1978. Later editions by Harper & Row (1981) and Penguin Books (1985, 1993, 1996) include an introduction by Nobel Prize Winner Doris Lessing.

Key takeaways

Learning How to Learn belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Learning How to Learn to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Learning How to Learn from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way is a book by the writer Idries Shah that was first published by Octagon Press in 1978. Later editions by Harper & Row (1981) and Penguin Books (1985, 1993, 1996) include an introduction by Nobel Prize Winner Doris Lessing. Shortly before he died, Shah stated that his books form a complete course that could fulfil the function he had fulfilled while alive. As such, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way can be read as part of a whole course of study.

Content

Written in response to enquiries about the Sufi tradition, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way presents traditional teaching stories and anecdotes and articles from newspapers to illustrate prerequisites to Sufi learning. One such prerequisite is that the learner should organise their basic human needs so as to be able to give adequate attention to their studies. The second section of the book is dedicated entirely to Shah's theory on the human need to give and receive attention.

Reception The theory on attention presented in the book has influenced the school of psychology and psychotherapy known as the Human Givens Approach. In Human Givens: A New Approach To Clear-Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing by Ivan Tyrrell and Joe Griffin, the authors state that in their view Shah's theory represents "a profoundly more subtle understanding of the importance of attention than found in Western psychology till now" and go on to quote in full the 21 principles of attention that Shah considered worthy of study. Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney, writing in Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions (2006), described Learning How to Learn as one of Shah's best works. They noted that the book provided a solid orientation to Shah's "psychological" approach to Sufi work and added that Shah, at his best, provides "insights that inoculate students against much of the nonsense in the spiritual marketplace." In September 1978 Psychology Today described the book as "the watershed in studies of the mind" and elsewhere as "a textbook of method and attitude."

References

External links Official Idries Shah website

Illustrations

Learning How to Learn: Idries Shah — Idries Shah

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Learning How to Learn

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Learning How to Learn claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Learning How to Learn before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Learning How to Learn ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Learning How to Learn

In research: Learning How to Learn appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Learning How to Learn in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Learning How to Learn is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1978 books, Octagon Press books, Psychology books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Learning How to Learn outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Learning How to Learn in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Learning How to Learn means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Learning How to Learn out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Learning How to Learn in simple terms?

Why does Learning How to Learn matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Learning How to Learn?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Learning How to Learn.