Skip to main content
Samuel Holston

Samuel Holston

Co-Founder at BrainTools Lab and host of the BrainTools podcast, helping schools build skills AI can't replace through brain science and metacognition.

Aug 8, 2026

16:31
So Sam, when schools and workplaces that you work with, what do they get wrong about this idea that Kieran's talking about practice, rituals, and reputations when something becomes difficult in the learning?
16:48
I think, um, w- what learners often get wrong and what schools and, and workplaces get wrong is we really think about like practice and learning as content and not as like effort and output.
16:59
And so what I say the big thing is, uh, you know, people will reread materials or learners will read materials, or they'll go over their notes, or they'll watch another YouTube video, or, uh, the HR and learning department will provide some more content resources, but the reality is the, the learning is in the doing, right? And so what I think happens is when learners don't have the tools to realize, um, that they, they learn by doing the thing and experiencing it, they default to this behavior of just reading more, consuming more content.
17:32
And as a result, particularly with difficult things, because, uh, learning difficult things, it, it feels hard.
17:38
It activates like the, uh, parts of our brain that, that create this amygdala friction, this like limbic friction as they call it in, in the research, where it feels like something we don't wanna do.
17:49
And so I think it's really, really important and when schools and workplaces think about trying to, you know, teach difficult things, that they embrace kind of like the suck and they teach their learners, "Hey look, this is gonna feel hard.
18:02
That's what learning is.

13 MINS LATER

30:56
Sam?

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.