Total Consciousness

Chapter-4: The Learning Process

     In order to place more weight on the strict order of the entire learning process, I present an outline of the learning process within four phases. Afterwards, I address each phase in greater detail.

     Although there is another emphasis that is needed here. The life blood of the learning process and its four phases is pumped by the second phase of the learning process. Yes, that’s correct, the second phase of the learning process is the vital core, or heart, of the entire four phase learning process.

     Of course, all other phases of the learning process are very important too; but the other phases serve only to support the second phase in a very strict and deliberate manner.

Outline of the Four Phases of the Learning Process

1. Produce the Required Factors for Learning to Occur.

2. Practice The Eight Actions of Learning.

3. Keep the Reward-Recuperative Phase of Learning, Third.

4. Take a Break, and then Repeat the Phases as needed.

     At present, the discussion focuses on the most vital process that allows studying and adaptation to flourish in life: The Learning Process. Unfortunately for all, there is no short cut to studying. There is no royal road to learning and to adaptation. This is because learning is an integral part of evolution.

     In finer detail, learning happens because there is an honest need, a desperate want or a desire to adapt; and, these truths of discomfort create the meaning and purpose to adapt, to grow and to invoke intentional evolution within oneself.

     As such, when a person is focused on learning, they are focused on an evolutionary process that has existed for billions of years. And, at present, for human beings, there are four phases that support this learning process from evolution.

The Four Phases of The Learning Process

The First Phase:

The first phase of the learning process is to produce the required factors for learning to occur.

     This means that each individual is solely responsible for the two factors of equation-B, which was introduced in Chapter-2, recall:

B = (a)(M).

     At each phase of the learning process, a person’s responsibility extends to creating the motivation, “M”, and the deliberate active searching, “a”, needed to produce all learning, B.

     A vital concept needs to be clarified at this point.

     Motivation has no dependence on how good one feels. Furthermore, motivation does not depend on feelings of being confident, happy, sad, excited or energetic. In other words, to produce motivation means to make movement by choice—how or why you feel a certain way is completely irrelevant. All that is required is for a person to actively choose to move (or not to move) in objective reality.

     However, a natural outcome of this first-phase will be a decline in motivation over time, which means a need for mental and physical rest. Remember, the factor of willpower is not infinite for a human being. Hence, willpower and motivation will exhaust with use. Therefore, any extended time period spent in phase one will need to be structured within time constraints and recuperation. Otherwise, learning will suffer and may actually be counterproductive.

The Second Phase:

The second phase of the learning process is the practice of: The Eight Actions of Learning.

     In this phase, an individual is solely responsible for creating each of the actions of learning, which are: success, questioning, remembering, interpreting, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.

     The descriptions of each action of learning are stated below. But before that, I need to state a few words of caution. This phase will also have a normal outcome of depleting motivation, which will require a period of recuperation. The reason for this is the same as with phase-one. Remember, phase-two is the heart and soul of the learning process. So, expect this phase to require consistent willpower, which will deplete motivation over time.

     In greater detail, the second phase of the learning process requires eight repeated actions. And, moving forward, I refer to this second phase of the learning process as:

The Eight Actions of Learning

     The first action of learning is the belief in personal ability for success.

     Above all else, any person in pursuit of learning and studying must begin by providing the factors of success. This means that it is the individual’s responsibility to generate the motivation, goals, responsibilities and minimization of blame required for success to be achieved—over time. Consistently, this first action (and all other actions) will require a substantial amount of faith. Do not expect proof of your success before starting. In doing so, the expectation of evidence will eventually stop you; and, limit all your progress forward in learning. It is critical that you believe that you will be successful without any need for proof of being successful.

     The second action of learning is the consistent action of questioning.

     Learning and studying all depend on the level and specificity of questions that a person is able and willing to state. Questioning is an integral aspect of learning because it declares a person’s level of faith to receive and to achieve answers. In other words, a person will make gains in their learning when they believe they can and will learn, regardless of proof or lack thereof. And the main way to begin this belief is with a willingness to produce, without hesitation, as many questions as possible.

     The third action of learning is the deliberate practice to remember, to recall and to retrieve.

     In order to notice patterns, answers or approximate solutions to any questions posed, a person needs to exercise their skill of intentional recall. As such, this action will involve practices that will strengthen a person’s ability to recall, such as: reviewing information pertaining to the aim of learning, with and without notes; summarizing information gathered for each question; discussions with others; creating a story or mnemonic; and, in general, using the idea of repeated repetitions and spaced repetitions. The key aspect here is to actively remember your questions, remember what you currently know and to remember what remains to be gathered, to be explored and to be digested in thought. This action will lay the foundation for future comprehension and development of critical thinking.

     The fourth action of learning is the practice of interpretation.

     That is to say, a person must regularly check their understanding of any and all information that has been gathered. This portion also includes the clarification of originally posed questions. Meaning, are the questions as specific as they can be? Are the questions complete? Or is there an area that needs to be questioned in order to address newly gathered information. Another principal goal in this action is to work on generating meaning, connections and possible inferences from the currently acquired information.

      A clear distinction is in order at this point: understanding is not memorization. This is why immediately following the action of remembering, a person must interpret. The key to learning is understanding, which is developed through making honest sense of what is remembered. Otherwise, if memorization is the main goal, there will only be a shallow level of transient learning. As a proper defense, this means that a person must interpret all relevant and far relevant information that has been gathered, as relates to the posed questions. Also, this means a person must be cautious and not let personal biases fog any interpretation.

     The fifth action of learning is the practice of application.

     In this action, it is crucial that a check on the practice of interpretation is carried out. This check that follows the interpretation action involves the practice or implementation of what has been interpreted. Meaning, a person must verify or adjust their current understanding in the learning process by some sort of a testing practice. For instance, some examples of application in action are: quizzes, homework, exams, oral questioning and discussions, teaching others, conducting experiments, running a simulation with technology or any other activity that will provide honest-timely feedback on the information being applied. And, when needed, a teacher or mentor can provide direction.

     The sixth action of learning is the practice of analysis.

     At this point, it is critical that a person digs deeper, searches closer and pays attention to the minor details of their learning goal. In other words, an individual has gathered sufficient information and practice to be able to create razor sharp specific questions of every piece they have acquired.

     This part deals with questioning all starting questions, all gathered information, all current understanding and all missing understanding. Most important, if needed, previous actions are repeated, again, and again, until progress or enough training has been completed. Remember, learning and studying is training the mind, body and soul: which means that the inability to understand something immediately is normal. It takes time, effort and consistency to grow.

     The seventh action of learning is the practice of evaluation.

     At this point in learning, a person must take time to attack, to judge and then to defend all currently known information, feedback and missing gaps in their understanding. The purpose at this point is to address the honest progress in learning.

     Caution is in order, do not judge or attack your learning any earlier than action seven. This step can generate too much doubt if done too soon. Therefore, the evaluation process includes revisiting all work in progress, only after steps one through six have been thoroughly completed. Dangerous; but, effective, this seventh action is based on creating doubt and then defense of all work. Do not rush into this action too soon. And do not dwell in this action for too long.

     The eighth action of learning is the practice of creating.

At this point, an individual will need to focus on the new connections established in learning. And move to the creation of understanding and acquisition of new knowledge or inferences. In other words, this is the point where an individual assimilates all aspects of their learning and makes an adaptation, from not knowing towards gaining improvements in their overall knowledge. Remember, a small victory is still a victory. And, if enough small victories are battled out and gained, then the overall war of not knowing will come to an end.

The Third Phase:

The third phase of the learning process is the reward-recuperative phase of learning.

     This is an extremely important part of the learning process, which must come third. Great emphasis is needed on this point. This phase allows for willpower and motivation to recover and allows for adaptations and changes to occur. Without this phase, there would be an imbalance and heavy strain in establishing proper repeatable habits in learning and in studying.

     However, there is a severe warning with this third phase that must not be taken out of context.

     Such a tremendous misunderstanding occurs with this third phase of the learning process, that the reader should pause to reflect for a few minutes on the next three sentences. 1.) Of all the phases of the learning process, this third phase is the most abused and improperly applied phase. 2.) The main reason for this abuse has to do with an incomplete understanding of the purpose between motivation and fun—which creates a false expectation, that drastically limits learning, studying and adaptation. 3.) The Purpose of learning is not fun, pleasure or entertainment; learning is an evolutionary developed process, which results from a need to adapt to some stress in life.

     This misunderstanding of phase-three is found in most areas of life and education: from students to parents; from administrators to teachers; and, from communities to nations. And the consequences of this misunderstanding are undeniable: students stagnate; students diminish and or reject their true learning potential; and students fail to develop into strong and interconnected adults within society.

     In defense of this abuse of the third phase of the learning process, I will spend considerably more attention explaining phase three, as compared to the first and second phases.

     To begin, recall that motivation is the product of three factors: expectation, value and willpower. The misunderstanding revolves around the factor of willpower. As was stated, in phase-one and phase-two, motivation will exhaust over time, which is normal and must be expected. This is because a person’s willpower functions like a muscle, which will fatigue overtime with use.

     The problem then is how to facilitate the recovery of willpower, which will refresh a person’s product of motivation.

     The answer is a reward-recuperative, like the one used in building a habit. However, we need a reward-recuperative other than just sleep or pleasure. Fortunately, for us, we do have a specific reward-recuperative that is far more inclusive: it is fun, as defined earlier.

     Looking back on chapter two, there is an approximate definition and equation given for fun: equation-2.1, F = [(v)(e)(h – p)]/ [w].

     Notice, willpower is in the denominator, which means that when a person is having fun, their willpower, in general, is not being strained or required to work very hard. That is to say, a person having fun allows their willpower to recover. And this is where all the problems arise from.

     Most individuals believe fun has to be excitement, ecstasy and bursting with pleasure and entertainment. Not so. Fun is all relative to the individual and to previously engaged activities and expectations.

     For instance, consider the action of sitting down in a chair, hands on knees, straight back and head looking straight ahead. Now, imagine maintaining this position without any additional movement for five hours. Or, if you prefer, imagine maintaining a proper horse stance position for one hour to two hours. Notice, a fun activity, relative to these actions, would easily be to stop doing these actions and get some water and or sports drink, maybe some delicious food. That’s it. In truth, stopping the actions will result in an increased production of fun.

     To further illustrate this huge misunderstanding in the learning process, consider some of the false expectations surrounding learning: “fun is learning”, “fun is required for learning to occur”, or “entertainment is required for good learning to occur” or “fun, excitement and feeling good needs to be present first before any learning will occur.”

     These ideas, motivated reader, are all false assumptions and debilitating expectations that will eliminate, stop and decay all learning progress.

     The actual truth is that fun, excitement, happiness or pleasures are not the driving force behind learning. In actual reality, in our universe, it all depends on need, boredom, stress, struggle and discomfort. These uncomfortable aspects of life are the driving force of all learning: regardless of what a person may feel, think or believe should be in reality.

     With greater detail, consider an approximate proof of the learning process, from the perspective of consciousness and evolution.

     Recall, consciousness consists of at least three parts: e-consciousness, ava-consciousness and i-consciousness. Now, consider the importance of breathing, of drinking water, or of eating food. Is it happiness, pleasure or excitement that calls you into action to perform these vital fundamental practices of life? From personal experience, and from the countless struggles of individuals throughout human history, I can assure you the answer is no. But, if you don’t believe me or the billions of past human beings, then, at your own risk, try it out. Hold your breath for a minute, two minutes, three or more minutes; stop drinking fluids for three or more days; in addition, stop eating food for more than a month. Will it be pleasure that gets your attention to act, or the call of the pain within you? Then why should it be any different for the rest of human adaptations within evolution, such as learning and studying?

     Notice, reader; the pattern and the process of these critical habits of human life: 1.) (It begins with a specific Cue), there is pain from not breathing, from not drinking water, or from not eating food; 2.) (practice or routine), there is action to breathe air, action to drink water and action to eat food; and, 3.) (reward-recuperative) then and only then does your body drop the pain and provide gratitude, a thank you, a good job or some other level of fun. Pause for a minute reader, this is the objective reality that all human beings are a part of. This is it.

     From a finer detailed perspective, the actual mechanism behind all learning is based on the interaction of your total consciousness.

     Here is another look at it from the three types of consciousness perspective. Your ava-consciousness and i-consciousness will use emotions to communicate with your e-consciousness, and send a message: (1) (cue) low on air or low water or low food: the message is a specific feeling or emotion of pain. Next, your e-consciousness must choose an action on this received communication, (2.) (a practice or a routine) to breathe, to drink water or to eat food. Then and only then does your ava-consciousness and i-consciousness send the gratitude message or thank you message, which is (3.) (the reward-recuperative), which includes no more pain, no more discomfort.

     Here is the trillion-dollar observation: the initiator of the discomforting emotion or feeling need not start with ava-consciousness and or i-consciousness. The discomfort can start with our waking or exploratory consciousness, a.k.a your e-consciousness. Pause for moment, reader … here is where the true essence of how studying works, works.

     When you willingly initiate and maintain the discomfort of learning and studying with your individual e-consciousness, then and only then is your ava-consciousness and i-consciousness called into action, into search and into creativity for assistance. Yes, indeed, your ava-consciousness and i-consciousness will retaliate with additional discomfort to stop the actions of studying. However, and most critical part, when you willingly persist and repeat the discomforts with learning and studying, then and only then will adaptation and growth and learning be an option.

     The key part, motivated reader, is that we request, recruit and permit our ava-consciousness and i-consciousness to help in the learning and studying process through our willpower to initiate discomfort, boredom or strain.

     In other words, when we begin this objective pattern of adaptation from evolution, we recruit and focus more consciousness ability from the other 85% of our consciousness. As a result, we begin to use more than just the 10-15% of our total consciousness within our e-consciousness.

     But the pattern must be respected and communicated as it has been developed throughout evolution.

     Getting back to the learning process, let’s look at the first three phases discussed so far; and keep in mind the three types or orders of consciousness. Phase-1: (Cue) we begin by focusing our motivation and deliberate active search on a particular learning objective. Phase-2: (Practice and routine) we practice the eight actions of learning and struggle to comprehend during our learning session, our training session, our session for adaptation. Notice, it is during phase-1 and phase-2 that we generate and send the message of discomfort to our ava-consciousness and i-consciousness. And, only after a sustained amount of time in this discomfort do we precede to phase-3. But it must be after and only after phase-1 and phase-2 that we proceed to Phase-3: (reward-recuperative), where we provide a reward-recuperative to our ava-consciousness and i-consciousness for their assisted work.

     This third phase seals the message with gratitude and focus. It lets the rest of our consciousness know that whatever preceded the reward-recuperative is important. Critically so, with repeated exposure in the proper order, our ava-consciousness and i-consciousness will be more involved in our learning, even when we are not using our e-consciousness in a deliberate manner to learn a specific subject area.

     Following the objective learning process within evolution, it’s only natural that ava-consciousness and i-consciousness will be involved in learning and studying. They want to stop the discomfort in the learning session because evolution requires time and energy and collective commitment; but, with repeated exposure to training sessions, their only option will be to adapt, to search, to grow … to become better and stronger. This is why expressing gratitude becomes important as part of the reward-recuperative phase (phase-three) of the learning process. It shows the rest of our consciousness that we trust its willingness to help.

     As a meaningful aside, many scientists believe that human beings are pain avoidance life forms. This is not true. At the very least, there exists another way to interpret what appears as pain avoidance within people.

     That interpretation is that human beings are adaptation cautious and skeptical. Meaning that, to adapt and to evolve in a specific direction is not random or easily chosen. For instance, evolving wings when gills are needed would not only be a waste of energy, time and adaptations; it could be catastrophic for life continuity.  Thus, there must be verification beyond just some brief amusement or interest or imagined false need in reality, in order to step in a direction of evolution—remember all life is interconnected, especially within a given species. In other words, there must be a check for adaptation within a branch of living species before a solidified direction in evolution is taken. Hence, there must be a need to evolve in a particular direction that is useful and long lasting to the collective, based on truth of reality—not on supposed reality or on feeling good reality.

     Therefore, human beings are not pain-avoidance living beings. Human beings are evolutionary path qualifiers, which use pain to guide needed intentional adaptations, in an interconnected framework.         

     Naturally, fun only comes into importance once and only once the learning portion (need to adapt) has been trained, stressed and completed. In other words, the order of the learning phases makes all the difference in the overall quality and quantity and retention of learning achieved.

     The truth is discomforting for many to accept that: need, stress, boredom, struggle and discomfort are the driving force behind all learning. And fun can only be used as a reward-recuperative after and only after phase one and phase two have been completed in the proper order.

     Adding more detail, when willpower is not trained, exercised or exhausted through motivation in a learning goal, then the component of fun will not be of any use. It can’t be of any use because of the evolutionary requirements needed for willpower fatigue in motivation, which allows for willpower recovery within fun.

    In other words, the purpose and function of fun is willpower exhaust dependent. Meaning, if willpower has not been exhausted in a learning situation, then fun will not only be useless; it will be counterproductive in life span development, especially within learning and studying.

     As such, the proper order of the learning process is not a subjective interpretation of evolution; it is an objective process that drives adaptation towards the goal of evolution in the universe. Therefore, it is imperative that the order of the learning phases be followed in the proper order.

     Once again, to reiterate, phase one of the learning process must always be first; phase two of the learning process must always be second; and phase three of the learning process must always be third.

     There is an important caution that must be stated regarding the phases of the learning process. Do not mix them. Do not blend them. And do not modify any of the phases of the learning process. There is no short cut. There is no avoiding the requirements for learning to occur, which are: need, stress, boredom, heaviness, struggle and or discomfort.

     Remember, having the correct expectation is an important factor of motivation: because if expectation is zero, or very close to zero, then motivation will be low for a specific learning goal.

     In general, do not expect learning to begin with pleasure, excitement or entertainment. Otherwise, learning and studying will be extremely limited.

The Fourth Phase:

Great, now that phase three has been addressed, it’s time to discuss the importance of phase four: break and repeat.

     After phase three has been accomplished, a break is required in order to switch mental focus away from the learning objective. This break and repeat process, moves our e-consciousness to another activity and shows the other two types of our consciousness that we trust and have faith in their continued efforts with learning. Of course, the duration of the break is dependent on the individual: some may need an hour or two, some a day, while others need only a few minutes.

     However, the message must be made clear. The ideas and skills being developed in a particular learning session are important and worthy of continued attention, even when e-consciousness is not directly involved. And this is accomplished with repeated exposure.

     Thus, consider a break to mean two things: time away and then repeat.

     Of course, results will vary from person to person: that’s just the nature of human nature. As a result, one person may require more repeated learning sessions than another person. Or one person may require longer training sessions with moderate breaks. And, still, one person may require shorter training sessions, but with much more frequent repeats of training.

     There is an important distinction with regards to phase four and phase three. They are not equivalent. In particular, phase four is not dependent on enjoyment: whereas phase-three, to some extent, is. Furthermore, the last two phases of the learning process accomplish different goals. Within phase three, it is the enjoyable reward-recuperative that communicates a need for assistance and gratitude for assistance.

     Within phase four, it is trust and faith that communicates a need to evolve, by focusing on something entirely different. In addition, phase four is dependent on both time away and repeated exposure to learning sessions until learning is victorious. The key part is the willingness to return and to continue learning and studying after a reasonable amount of time has elapsed.

      In summary, learning and studying is much, much, more than the gathering of information. It involves a struggle to adapt, to improve and to change into someone better. As a surprise to most, this means that information that makes no sense to us in the beginning must be lifted until it can be understood. In other words, learning and studying requires that a person willingly expose themselves to boredom, to heaviness and often to discomfort. Therefore, the proper expectation of learning and studying is to consider it as training for the mind, body and soul.

Chapter Four Highlights

The Eight Actions of Learning

1. Success: Believe in your success before and throughout learning.

2. Question: Divide your learning goal with a multitude of questions.

3. Remember: Gather and remember information as needed.

4. Interpret: Digest and interpret information pertaining to your learning.

5. Apply: Practice and apply your understanding on a regular basis.

6. Analyze: Pay attention to detail, analyze all aspects of your questions.

7. Evaluate: Judge and evaluate your honest progress in your learning.

8. Create: Develop and create new knowledge, new understanding and new connections based on your learning progress.

The Four Phases of the Learning Process

1. Phase-1: Establish the factors for learning, see equation-B, B = (a)(M)

2. Phase-2: Practice the eight actions of learning.

3. Phase-3: Practice a reward-recuperative, see equation-2.1,

F = [(v)(e)(h – p)]/[w] and to be clear that’s (h minus p)

4. Phase-4: Take a break from learning and then repeat phases one, two and three until victory is achieved.

The Order Matters

     There is an objective process and pattern to learning, studying and adaptation. It is based on evolutionary developments that all human beings are a part of. As a result, there is a strict order to the four phases of the learning process: phase-1 must always be first; phase-2 must always be second; phase-3 must always, always, always be third; and, phase-4 must always be fourth.

Time Dependent

     The amount of time required in each phase of the learning process is dependent on the individual learner.

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Thank you

     I appreciate your time in reading this blog post. If you have an interest in learning more about my writing, my philosophy of metaphysics, or my self-development books, such as How Does Studying Work?, consider spending some time with my website, totalconsciousnesses.com on WordPress.

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