"People are not good thinkers"

His first principle is:

"People are naturally curious, but we are not naturally good thinkers; unless the cognitive conditions are right, we will avoid thinking."

This is a principle well known in vision therapy. It is critical to have a patient engaged in the task but not overwhelmed. If the task is too easy they will get bored and if the task is too complicated they will give up. It is very helpful to understand that humans do not thrive on thinking. He points out that humans are not good at thinking but good at avoiding thinking. Humans are good at adapting to a task. This is discussed in detail in regards to reading in a book I am starting (Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf). Reading is new to humans and shows our incredible ability to adapt to a new task.

He points out that thinking has three unfavorable characteristics:

• It is slow
  
• It requires effort
  
• It is uncertain
  

Therefore, most people rely on memory and only think when it is necessary. People do enjoy working at mental tasks if they can solve the problem. If it is too complex they will not stay engaged and too easy they will be bored. It is critical for a student to be right at that point of being challenged just enough to stay engaged but not give up.



If you are a teacher he gives sound advice at the end of each chapter on how to integrate this information in the classroom. I will list the advice here in hope that it will interest some to get the book for the details:

• Be Sure That There Are Problems to Be Solved
  
• Respect Student's Cognitive Limits
  
• Clarifying the Problems to be Solved
  
• Reconsider When to Puzzle Students
  
• Accept and Act on Variation in Student Preparation
  
• Change the Pace
  
• Keep a Diary