Quote:
Learning from mistakes, when promptly pointed out, is one thing. Unlearning bad habits is another story. OC, with the death of neurons and the alteration of synapses, true unlearning is possible, in the sense of erasure. However, what happens as a rule is that the original neural connections remain in place, but are inhibited and replaced by new connections which produce new habits. Under stress, such as may happen during the play of a game, that inhibition may fail and the old bad habit resurface. Akin to what Freud called the return of the repressed.
No quibbles with this, except that it's not addressing my main point, which was about learning. This is about unlearning.
I am suggesting there is an important difference between learning from a list, or from what somebody else has told you, which may mean you "know" it, but in a specific and superficial way, and learning by experience, which leads to deeper knowledge (intuition, if you like) which has wider, general application.
If someone teaches you to parrot 2+2=4 at school, you may "know" it and even pass an exam by repeating that. But it doesn't help with 3+3. If, however, your teacher gives you 2 sweets and then 2 more sweets, and asks how many you have got, you may make a mistake initially and say 22 or whatever, but you can be guided to learn
from your mistake, as opposed to unlearning it. And once you've grasped that, the sheer delight you feel from doing it yourself, makes it a deep part of your learning - an 3+3 is then a doddle.
I'm certain mistakes are very useful in aiding the learning experience. What I'm unsure about is how much mistakery can be tolerated before it degenerates into bad habits and refusal to listen to alternative opinions. My own experience is: quite a lot at the beginning, and the joy of discovering a mistake is a major element in boosting passion for the subject and wanting to learn more. Things I learn too easily I tire of easily. And vice versa, which is why I've been doing go for over 50 years.