Learning: no pain, no gain

"Probably the most important thing you need to know is that you can't learn by accident (e.g. when you're asleep). Many psychologists say you can, but they're wrong in my view. When we learn new things, it feels hard and it hurts. Simply reading the lecture notes is easy. In contrast, translating the lecture notes into your own words to explain to your grandma is hard. This tells you that when you translate the notes into your own words, you're learning. So it's easy to tell when your revision is working - you experience pain."

Associate Professor Chris Mitchell, UNSW School of Psychology

[page 18 of Tharunka, Issue 5, Volume 57]