Add post: Progress Mindsets

Author: alejorivera

_posts/2015-07-20-progress-mindsets.md

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+---
+layout:    post
+title:     "Learning: The two progress mindsets. (and what Hayek has to do with it)"
+date:      '2015-07-07T13:13:00-06:00'
+summary:   "There are two ways in which we can understand progress. Whichever one is our understanding, radically impacts the way we approach learning."
+category:  learning
+author:    alejo
+image:     progress.jpg
+---
+
+![progress](/images/progress.jpg)
+
+<blockquote>
+  <p>
+    Progress is movement for movement's sake, for it is in the process of learning,
+    and in the effects of having learned something new, that man enjoys his
+    gift of intelligence.
+  </p>
+  <footer><cite title="Friedrich Hayek">Friedrich Hayek</cite></footer>
+</blockquote>
+
+I've come to the conclusion that there are two ways to understand progress,
+and that whichever way we choose to understand it,
+will radically impact how we approach learning.
+
+Let's explore the two understandings and their implications, by visiting one
+of my favorite economists/philosophers.
+
+### The Two Types of Progress
+
+In _The Constitution of Liberty_ Hayek makes a distinction
+between two types of progress:
+
+1. Progress in connection with our individual endeavors. When we've set a fixed
+aim and our measure of progress becomes our advancements towards our goal.
+2. Progress as we see in social evolution. Progress as a process of learning
+and adaptation, of trial and error. As a process where what we think is possible,
+along with our values and desires, are constantly changing.
+
+Contrast the two ways. In the first one, we know exactly what we're aiming for.
+In the second one, progress becomes the discovery of the not yet known, and
+therefore, its consequences are unpredictable; This is a much more general
+understanding.
+
+### The Two progress mindsets
+
+Let's look at two examples:
+
+1. A school with a set curriculum for Math, Literature, Writing, Science, etc.
+Where the teacher lectures the students, asks them to be calm and quite. Then,
+tests them to measure how well they're learning the curriculum.
+2. A school that has computers and internet, games, books, but no teachers
+giving lectures or even commanding that a student does something. A school where
+students choose what to learn and when to learn.
+
+The first school focuses on fixed learning goals, while the forgets about
+the goals and focuses on creating the conditions favorable for learning.
+
+### The Impact on How We Approach Learning
+
+As you can see, both schools are radically different.
+
+If we understand progress always leads into the unknown, the most we can hope
+for is to understand how to create the conditions for it.
+
+There's no question that each person on this earth is unique,
+and has unique gifts and talents.
+If what we're looking for in our education system
+is not to drive everyone towards the same goal, as we would do in a factory,
+we need to start understanding education as a process
+that is rooted in trial and error,
+where we're not pursuing one definite outcome. A process where each one of us
+learns for learning's sake.