The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

Perhaps like me you caught the recent Freakonomics podcast episode on the physicist Richard Feynman.  It was a lovely piece dedicated to his story, his development, and his approach to learning. A particularly notable part was the point at which, after the bomb and his depression subsequent to the bomb and the end of the war, that he reconnected with the joy of learning, of apprehending things for the simple pleasure of doing so - the delight of it all.

He brought that forward in one of his notable quotes- a quote that came in the wake of his receiving the Nobel prize about being philosophically opposed to awards and honors, as the pleasure of finding things out was the primary reward and was quite sufficient is his estimation.

I was listening t this podcast on my way home from rounding on babies at the hospital where I had just chatted with a new mom who happened to be a physical therapist about the learning loop a newborn gets to experience when they find their way to the nipple and latch vs when we, with all the best intentions, rather forcefully shove it in the face or into their mouth.  Naturally, my brain immediately tool to finding where this information all ties in with coaching and it's going like this:

When a client makes their OWN discovery about their inner or outer world, their OWN NEURONS are gasping, apprehending, conceptualizing the information which goes from right brain into the left brain for languaging.  When we TELL a person what we think they should no know or understand, we are mimicking that natural process, but there is reversal in order. I believe the reversal in order causes a MUCH SMALLER dopamine response (which is not to say none), and hence a reduced sense of the PLEASURE of learning.

I believe this very pattern may be why Montessori and child-led learning has been increasingly popular in recent decades-- that we all have a sense of this truth, though it may not have been well described or documented yet. (has it?)

Or if it has ben well described and documented, this nascent knowledge has not yet with full force hit the general public.

In coaching we are trained to ask powerful questions…questions that will provoke insight toward to the desired end be that improved relationships, improved productivity, improved predominant emotional state, etc.  We are trained to try to refrain for excessive telling; after all only our client knows what they are ready to grasp and apply. 

Learning more or less experientially, then, provides the basis for improved understanding, for a desire for more such learning through a dopamine mediated response, and accrues evidence of self efficacy and competence which drives self esteem.

Adult learners are especially drawn to a self view of competency, so having this reinforced rather than torn  down is an essential awareness to hold while instructing them or facilitating their own learning. 

I want to say clearly that being taught in a didactic fashion is sometimes a pre requisite for the dynamic self-directed insights that are common in coaching contexts.  We must be able to interact with blocks before we can be expected to construct towers.

What does this idea mean to you?  Are there ways you see it playing out around you or ways in which the opposite is true? I'd love to hear your thoughts.