Learning through Reason

1. Learning through Reason from the book Critique of Pure Reason – Immanuel Kant

2. Central Theme • How as human being – we learn • What is learning – things we do not know. • Why do we care about learning. What is its significance in human life? • What type of education we should provide to children? • How should student approach learning • References.

3. What is it mean to learn? • We get more information. • We figure out things • At the end we know information, conclusions that we did not know before. • Significance: • Who cares how we learn? • We all try to make ourselves happy. • We make decisions based on what we feel is right to make our life happy. • Are those right decisions? – emotions, non emotional – academic.

4. What is it to learn? • It can have very big impact on our lives. • We get upset when our loved ones do not agree with our decisions because we see things differently. • What kind of education we should provide? • Reason – is how we find truth.

5. Two competing philosophies. • Philosophers have two view points on how we learn • Through experience (Hume, Locke, etc… ) • Through reason. ( Descartes, Kant ) • Kant says we learn through both. • Reason uses experiences to operate on and this generates our knowledge. • E.g. falling from top of the building.

6. Two types of truth from Kant • Two types of truths Synthetic and Analytical • Synthetic truth • Two different observations – we connect them through reason. • All scientific laws. • Law of Gravitation, Objects used to fall before Newton discovered the law. • There is no cause and effect. Thus there is no necessity. Cause is in our mind. • If there was cause, before discovery of law it would not happen. Helps in prediction of future.

7. Synthetic Truth – domain of science We will use the following diagram frequently. Proof by induction.

8. 2nd type of Truth: Analytical truth • Analytical truth: Domain of Mathematics. Truth is in definition. No Observation Reqd. • All bachelor men are single ( defn of Bachelor ) • Seems pretty lame • But all mathematics derivation. Geometry • X^2 + Y^2 = X^2 + 2 xy + y^2 • Sum of all angles in triangle is 180 deg. • Proof by Deduction

9. How can we use this in our daily learning at school? • In Any large system information is organized in hierarchical tree structure. • Human Body – different body parts, different systems. They are further divided and there are n levels • Airplane, Bridge, House. • Our scientific laws are applied at lower level. • The more lower level law is, much better. Atomic level best. E.g bio chemistry.

10. Hierarchical Structure. • When we build anything new we solve problem by creating hierarchical structure • Airplane, Bridge, House • Writing book. • However to understand existing structure we reverse engineer and try to understand tree structure ( refer to drawing ) • Understand how car functions • How to read textbooks – it is a dialog • Students try to read it as fiction book and fail.

11. Textbooks • Existing structure • Trying to make sense of experience • A dialogue that what is the central theme of the book, how it is divided • Apply to each chapter section. • Idea is to understand the tree structure and how each node is connected to each parent and child node. • It is like solving a jig saw puzzle. Dialog. • Learn computer programming – write large programs. It makes you think different way.

12. Textbooks • You cannot read like a fiction book. Fiction book is experience. Non fiction textbook is making sense of experience. • Trying to Study hard is stupid. • So much tension at home, in classroom, No wonder our kids are frustrated. • They try to memorize scientific laws. • Anatomy, how to approach. • We are creature of habit, it will not work 1st time.

13. Math Textbooks • Math Textbooks. • It is Analytical Truth - Deductive reasoning. • No Observation. • Understand Rules. • Understand how equation are derived using rules. • It is a different approach compared to reading scientific book.

14. References • What smart student’s know. – By Adam Robinson. • How to Read a book – By Mortimer J Adler • How to Learn – Shrihas Shah.

15. Future of Education. Some Quotes • The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions. ~Bishop Mandell Creighton • The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. ~Leonardo da Vinci • The Founding Fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on parents. So they provided jails called schools, equipped with tortures called an education. ~John Updike • If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. ~Rene Descartes

16. Future of Education. • We still can have brick and mortar schools. • Students will have option to study at home through recorded lectures . • Curriculum should be defined and let teachers record their lectures , compete for students • Lectures can be paid, giving incentive to teachers. • We can educate the whole world very cheaply with best teachers. • We need few good teachers to educate whole world.

17. Comments Questions?? • ??