A. Patterns
“Your brain
craves patterns and searches for them endlessly. In the absence of adequate sensory
input, it will even make its own.”
- Thomas B. Czerner, M.D.
If you have ever seen a person doodling patterns and
shapes on a note pad during a lecture, you know the statement above is true. If
listeners aren’t finding any relevance in what the teacher is teaching – if
they see no patterns or connections to their own lives – they will create their
own patterns. Literally.
The brain loves patterns. It organizes itself around
patterns. It is constantly searching for patterns to store, patterns to retrieve,
and new patterns to connect with existing patterns in its memory array. The
brain hungers to make sense of the world. To do that, it needs to recognize
patterns. Once the brain is efficient in recognizing a set of patterns, it
begins to do amazing things. Read this if you can:
I cdnuolt blveiee that I
cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg! The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan
mind! Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer
inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the
frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and
you can sitll raed.
it wsan’t a porbelm. Tihs
is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as
a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!
Because you are familiar with
the patterns of words and letters, you don’t even need to see the letters in
the right order for your brain to take over and fill in the gaps of the lines
above. It does the work for you… all because of patterns.
En-Ter-Taining
Patterns
Does all this sound too much like entertainment to you
to be education? Before dismissing it, look for a pattern in the word
en-ter-tain.
En means in or into. Ter
(territory, terra, terrain, terrarium) means the land. Tain (contain, retain, obtain, fountain) means to hold. The word
en-ter-tain literally means to “enter their land and hold them.” That sounds
like mission work… Jesus work. You can’t expect the learner to enter your world.
You must enter their land if you are to hold them. And the only way to enter
their brain - the only way to hold their attention is through relevant and
recognizable…
Patterns!
What makes something irrelevant and unrecognizable?
The lack of meaningful patterns. What makes it meaningful and relevant? You
recognize some familiar patterns and the brain calls out for more. What does
this have to do with education and Bible memory? Read on.
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