📘 Part 3: Skills and Learning

This episode's vocabulary

Somewhat (adverb) - to some degree.

Trait (noun) - a particular characteristic that can produce a particular type of behaviour.

Muddle (noun) - an untidy or confused state.

Soft skills - people's abilities to communicate with each other and work well together.

Resistant (adj.) - not wanting to accept something, especially changes or new ideas.

Adept (adj.) - having a natural ability to do something that needs skill.

Hardship (noun) - a condition of life that causes difficulty or suffering.

Emerge (verb) - to appear by coming out of something or out from behind something.

Replicate (verb) - to make or do something again in exactly the same way.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, what kind of people are good at teaching?

R: Well, in my experience, people who are organized, knowledgeable, somewhat creative and who can relate to people and make connections with them. It doesn't have to be all four of these things. But at the very least, there should be at least three of them. And all this helps determine what is to be taught and how in the best way possible.

M: What qualities should teachers have?

R: I think probably in two words, patience and confidence. Learning anything takes a long time, and students need someone who's sure about what they are doing in order to succeed and feel encouraged. And both of these traits are useful in these respects.

M: Which do you think is more important? Practical skills, or academic skills, or so-called soft skills?

R: Well, soft skills help you deliver the content you're expected to provide, but there has to be some actual content there. So I think all three have equal weight, to be honest. If you forced me to choose, I would probably say soft skills because people can usually muddle through things together, but only if they actually can work together. And you need soft skills to do this.

M: What things can young people teach older people?

R: I suppose the most obvious example is how to use technology since it tends to catch on with younger people first and fastest, because they're so flexible and open to all of this new information. Older people tend to be more set in their ways and therefore more resistant to change.

M: Which age group is the best one at learning new things?

R: Oh, I've, oh, this thing again. I don't think there is such a thing. I've, sorry. I've been part of debates about this. They say young people are better at learning in general, but is that because they are the only age group sat down in a room and forced to learn things for hours on end or because they're naturally adept at this? And I actually think that it's because they're forced to do it and they also have more free time. Whereas adults have jobs and families to consider, adults are more critically aware and can organize their learning time more effectively and efficiently. So each group has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of when the best time is to learn. I don't think there is one universal standard that's acceptable here.

M: What skills do people take a long time to learn?

R: Oh, I think... Well, if I think about my own case, probably ways to deal with stress and everything else that life throws at you. And that's usually because it relies on people having negative experiences going through them and then reflecting on them. And it's hard to prepare for. And it involves a lot of hardship. But roughly, by the time you're between 25 and 30, you should be able to master your emotions in such a situation or such situations.

M: What skills should children learn before school?

R: Well, maybe not completely, but how to make friends and how to cope with difficulties emerging from working with others. I'm not saying that they have to be like fully trained diplomats, but they should be able to work through problems and handle themselves in a disciplined way, or at least a reasonably disciplined way. Making friends is important for being able to get on in life in general. But in particular at school, I suppose being able to read would be a close third option that opens up so many doors for people.

M: How do adults learn a new skill?

R: Getting someone to show them how and then trying to replicate that effort as best they can? It's the same as kids, really, when you think about it. Only kids tend to have more fun doing it. Adults are a little bit more sensitive and serious about these kinds of things.

M: Is the Internet good for learning new skills?

R: Maybe those involving your mind, I would say so, but perhaps a few practical skills too, since there are videos for like visual demonstrations of things. Although I maintain my position that having another human being to work with is one of the most essential elements for this. I think there's something sort of magical almost about human interaction that can't be translated into a machine, but I'd be willing to be proven wrong about that.

M: What do you think about the future? So will people continue learning different things so they'll just get lazy because all the work will be done by robots?

R: Oh, no. People are addicted to drama and making things complicated. I don't think even if robots are helping us, we'll be through with needing to learn how to do things.

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