There are other major nerve tracts interconnecting many parts of the brain. These rich arrays of interlinking nerve tracts, among other functions, account for the holistic way that the brain coordinates information processing.
– Brain, Mind and the Organization of Knowledge for Effective Recall and Application
But the universe is even more talkative than Alanus thought, and it speaks not only of ultimate things (which it does always in an obscure fashion) but also of closer things, and then it speaks quite clearly.
– The Name of the Rose
Why did a number of cows escape death in Queensland when a group of powerful people met in Beijing? Why did three elephants run away from Patanangala beach an hour before a giant tidal wave wrought devastation on the coast? How can a storm arise at one end of the world when a butterfly flaps its wings at another?
Why do students who score a perfect 12 correcting misspelled words and transforming word classes to suit a context, still make spelling and grammar errors with far simpler words when writing compositions? Why do students who wield connectors skilfully in Synthesis and form complex constructions, struggle with combining two distinct points in one simple sentence in Open-ended Comprehensions (OEC)?
Finally, what do nets have to do with any of these questions?
Information in the human brain is organised like a net with linkages from one concept to the next and one context to the next. A holistic and comprehensive view of a subject would entail more often than not, linkages which are bidirectional, with both incoming and outgoing connections. In sum, the more of these bidirectional linkages a student has in relation to a particular context, the more comprehensive her understanding of a particular issue will be and the more efficient and effective she will be when solving problems.
As computer systems and data science experts elucidate, internet and Smart Cities infrastructure was modelled after human brain architecture. While terms like SNS, IPv4, Artificial Neural Networks, cloud reflex arcs and edge computing might seem foreign and intimidating, computer scientists themselves concede that, “brains of mammals are so advanced that even the most advanced computers cannot equate to the processing power of the human brain” (Allam, 2019). Little wonder then, that the elephants escaped calamity which all of Man’s advanced systems seem not to have detected.
The human brain is more powerful than the most powerful computer and every one of us owns one. Our brain is an internet and a smart city, with its own search engine, address encoding system, routing system and real time feedback loops (City Brain, a new Architecture of Smart City based on the Internet Brain). Understanding the nuclear potential of what we were born with, would help us make smarter decisions and achieve greater results with surgical precision and economy of effort.
According to the Context Label Pointer (CLP) Theory posited by Roger Anderson of Columbia University, students should learn to organize new learning within nets based on a context. The context functions as a label which would facilitate retrieval of the entire net from a student’s long-term memory for use in his working memory. Anderson also explains the difference between remembering and knowing – to remember is to merely recall a piece of information, to know is to be able to link various pieces of information recalled, in a meaningful, context specific way.
For example, when a student attempts a comprehension passage on climate change, the ‘climate change’ label in his long-term memory lights up. Attached to this label, might be concepts of sustainable development, food webs, the water cycle and the distinction between weather and climate; all of which he must have learnt during science lessons. The ‘climate change’ label gets activated automatically sometimes but for consistently powerful information processing, the student would have to deliberately engage it. If to his mind, Science and English are exclusive and distinct domains, he might not be able to activate the label, and so would unwittingly short-change his understanding of the passage.
After reading the passage, he would come to the questions. If he merely thinks of OEC in OEC terms – question types, write in complete sentences unless stated otherwise and employs only OEC specific techniques, he might still have difficulty articulating clearly what he definitely understands from the passage. If he sees the link between Grammar MCQ, Editing, Synthesis and the OEC context, it would become easier for him to translate invisible understanding in his mind to visible words on a page. For this to happen, he needs to organize information differently in his mind, by forming a net with links between grammar and meaning making. It will not be enough for him to merely recall that the word ‘but’ is a conjunction to link two distinct clauses in a Synthesis exercise. He will need to understand (know) the implications of its use in a sentence found in the OEC passage or in his answer to a question.
One simple way recommended by Professor Anderson for students to piggyback on natural brain structure for deep and rich learning, is to compose mind maps to form connections between different ideas and concepts illustrated in the course of the instant lesson and previous lessons within and also across subjects. He suggests that students could practise explaining their mind maps so constructed, in words to cement their understanding.
Leonardo Da Vinci managed to achieve functional works of art even in the military domain by observing patterns in nature. He was able to do this because of two fundamental beliefs; that everything is connected and that harmony between apparently distinct elements would give rise to the highest levels of efficiency and efficacy.
Leonardo had a friend whose name is as widely known today, Machiavelli. He too, saw patterns amongst the affairs of men and wrote about strategic manoeuvring to secure advantage. He too often used analogies from nature. For example, he wrote of a golden ass which was too wily to be caught in a net. Ironically, it was his very net like machinations to benefit him alone, which left him high and dry towards the end of his life.
With the adoption of a broad enough view, we are less likely to find ourselves on the wrong side of the net cast by nature or by a challenging question.
The Brain Dojo
