In this last post in my series on why technology is outpacing society, we explore how we can adapt to the Exponential Age. I don’t want to end this series in such a negative way. And this post is trying to be more positive, by discussing the one thing we have some control over. The development and protection of our cognitive abilities.
I don’t want to provide false hope, as we can only control what is within our own personal remit. Therefore, as the Stoic philosophers believed, it’s not worth worrying about things outside our control. So in this post, we look at what we can each do as individuals.
The Good News: We Are Built to Adapt
As a species, we evolved to adapt and learn throughout life. Our brains can literally rewire themselves as we experience new things and learn from them. The neural networks in our brains are constantly changing and expanding as we learn.
This is something AI cannot yet do. Once trained, its neural network is fixed, otherwise it risks the model forgetting what it has already learnt.
This isn’t in itself enough to close the exponential gap when it comes to our cognitive ability.
The Two Core Abilities
Cal Newport, in his book Deep Work, put forward two core abilities for surviving in the digital economy:
- The ability to quickly master hard things
- The ability to produce at an elite level, both in speed and quality
I would think these are core abilities at any time, not just the digital age. And as I noted in my permanent note, this seems reliant on deep work, which requires a lot of focus. The very ability that some research indicates is at risk from modern digital technology and AI.
You need to do things that help you to keep focus for a period of time. For me, writing and working my notes have helped me to protect my cognitive abilities.
Metacognition: The Meta-Skill
Metacognition is a meta-skill, as it is the ability to think about your own thinking, and it includes the following activities.
- self testing
- self explanation
- concept mapping
Metacognitive strategies help you to organise and integrate new knowledge into your existing knowledge, and help you to regulate your learning.
You can improve your own metacognition by doing the following:
- setting goals and objectives as it helps you to focus your learning for a specific reason.
- monitoring your progress towards achieving both your goals and objectives.
- using cognitive strategies
- using metacognitive strategies
- reflecting on the following
- your strengths
- your weaknesses
- your performance
- your learning
Cognitive strategies include the following activities.
- summarising
- outlining
- visualising information
This is why I think the best thing any of us can do is to keep learning about the things that interest us and continue to find curiosities. I would also recommend starting a PKM practice to help you to learn and to think about what you learn. I think a good place to start would be my post comparing note taking with keeping a PKM.
Self-efficacy is a precondition
Self-efficacy was a term introduced by Stanford University social-cognitive psychologist Albert Bandura. It refers to feeling confident in your ability to affect a given situation or to perform a specific task to reach one of your goals.
In a nutshell, it defines our ability to adapt. For me that means we have to be open to learning new things about ourselves and the world around us.
I started this blog post in 2020 during the Covid lockdowns to write about technology after writing lots of articles that suggested it was a good way to make money. It has now become part of my tool box to help me stay curious and to protect my cognitive capabilities, along with my Zettelkasten and potentially even AI itself.
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Further reading
- comparing note taking with keeping a PKM: A post that compares taking notes with keeping a PKM such as a Zettelkasten
- Hendrie Weisinger and JP Pawliw-Fry, How to Perform Under Pressure