Regardless of how it occurs—in a classroom, individually through reading or listening, or on Zoom—learning is a social process. It is inextricably linked with our collective experience as human beings. Linked, in fact, to our success as a human species.
Our brains evolved from their primitive state with the capacity for higher-order thinking and reasoning, but these parts of the brain were only accessible when we felt safe. If survival was in question, the brain made sure that flight, fight, or freeze was the priority, muting those higher-order capacities. Building tools or establishing roles within an emerging civilization didn’t really matter if a tiger was threatening to eat you.
