What does it mean to get an education?
What is the end result of the learning process?
Should you admire those who memorize data or patterns of data?
Do you trust someone's memory rather than looking up important data from a trusted information source?
For repetitive labor jobs, learning a subject means memorizing a set of information needed to rapidly perform a
skill. Unfortunately, in our modern global information economy, most repetitive tasks will eventually get automated.
It is important for each person to consciously decide what subjects to memorize and develop proficiency.
Our entire educational system has been built around the antiquated assumption that learning means memorization
and demonstrating proficiency.
In a complex ever-changing information world, the ability to acquire, triage, organize, use and delete information
is more important that the ability to memorize.
Acquire Patterns First and Details Later
Imagine if you could store all the important patterns you will ever need to learn in an interactive pattern database.
Patterns of data can be stored that represent the basic structure of important information, without needing
to store every detail or story about the information.
Storing the basic patterns that underly an idea, subject or discipline is more efficient that storing billions
of educational stories that all teach the same basic facts and patterns.
DNA stores and transmits compressed patterns of important information between cells and
from one generation to the next.
The patterns in DNA are not useful to us until they are applied to form new proteins and cells. This is the "story of life".
DNA functions the opposite of traditional narrative learning in that the patterns come first and the detailed stories
the patterns can tell come second.
Pattern Management operates on a similar principle to DNA, you build up patterns from many associations of small objects.
Once those patterns successfully represent a concept and can be applied to solve real world problems, those patterns
can be directly transmitted from one person's pattern database to another.
You can think of learning a subject via patterns as acquiring the "DNA Patterns" that makes someone an expert in that subject.
Collecting Patterns as a Form of Learning
Pattern databases allow for a fundamentally different approach to learning.
Learning need no longer be a process of repetition and memorization.
The learning process should involve:
- Collecting data patterns created by experts in your own pattern database.
- Applying those patterns to a set of facts to ensure you are not missing related patterns or data.
- Linking new patterns to your own patterns and objects in your pattern database.
- Creating indexes in your pattern database to quickly get to those patterns and data which you use frequently.
- Memorizing and developing proficiency at quickly finding and applying saved patterns of data.
