Authentic Learning
Learn as exactly who you are and attention plus motivation follow.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 80%
Authentic learning means structuring learning around exactly who you are. Kotler grounds it in attention: attention is the gateway to learning and is coupled to autonomy, so you can't fully attend to something that isn't your choice. He rejects the debunked visual/auditory 'learning styles' but keeps the real dimensions — introversion vs extroversion and personal risk aversion — and designs the setting to fit them. Get it right and you tap Carl Rogers's claim that the drive toward authenticity is as fundamental as sex or food, delivering a large motivation boost on the front end and better retention on the back end.
Origin
As a self-described introvert who hates being bad in public, Kotler learned park-ski tricks hidden in the side and back country with friends rather than on the visible terrain parks under the chairlifts.
Core principles
- 01Attention is the gateway for learning and it is coupled to autonomy — you can't pay maximum attention to something that isn't by choice.
- 02Authentic learning means learning based on exactly who you are, not on debunked 'learning styles.'
- 03The traits that matter are real: where you fall on introversion-extroversion and on the risk-aversion scale.
- 04Carl Rogers argued the drive toward authenticity is as fundamental as the drive for sex, food, or shelter — get it right and motivation spikes.
How to run it
- 1
Locate yourself on the real traits
Determine where you fall on introversion-extroversion and on the risk-aversion scale, ignoring the debunked visual/auditory learning-style myth.
Watch out 'Learning styles' like visual vs auditory learner are nonsense — we're all of those depending on what we're learning.
- 2
Match the setting to who you are
Design where and how you learn to fit your traits — introverts learn in private, extroverts in public; respect your risk threshold.
Pro tip Kotler took tricks into the woods to learn out of sight because as an introvert he doesn't mind being bad, just not in public.
- 3
Preserve autonomy for attention
Keep the learning by choice and self-directed so attention stays maximal, since attention is coupled to autonomy.
Pro tip Getting authenticity right delivers a large motivation boost, because the drive to be your authentic self is a fundamental drive.
In the wild
Because most terrain parks sit visibly under the chairlifts, Kotler took his park tricks into the side and back country to learn them privately with friends.
→ Learning in a setting that matched his introversion made progress possible where the visible, public route would have been impossible for him.
Common mistakes
Building learning around 'learning styles'
Designing instruction around visual vs auditory learner myths ignores the real traits (introversion, risk aversion) that actually govern attention and motivation.
Is it for you?
Best for
Adults taking on hard new skills who need to sustain attention and motivation over time.
Not ideal for
Learners looking for a one-size-fits-all curriculum or who buy into fixed 'learning styles.'
From the transcript
“Authentic learning means we learn based basically exactly on who we are.”
“Attention is a coupled system. It's linked to autonomy.”
From the episode
Steven Kotler: Peak Performance Aging, How to Stay at the Top of Your Game in Your 30s, 40s, 50s, and Beyond
Steven Kotler