Are Learning Styles a Way to Make Dumb People Feel Smart?

Like, the issue is that intelligent people learn, okay?

It's just, like, it just is the way it is, okay? So part of this is just you have to come face -to -face with the reality that people are different, and there are intelligent people, and there are dumb people, like, that's just the way the world works, okay?

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We're your host, Harrison Kerrigan, Pastor Tim Mullett, and today we'll answer the age -old question, are learning styles a way to make dumb people feel smart?

Now, Tim, as we kick this episode off, how do you respond to that type of question?

What is your view of learning styles? And I guess as you're answering that question, as you're answering that topic question for the episode, give us a definition for what we're even talking about with learning styles as well.

Tim Mullett Yeah, so it's very popular in education right now to basically advocate for this idea that there are different learning styles that people benefit from.

So most people are encouraged to think along these lines, and I mean, you probably even think about that intuitively.

Like if you were to hear the question, you know, what is your preferred learning style, there's probably something that would come to mind for you.

And I mean, this is not really uncommon. This is just, you know, 90 % of teachers right now would think that there's something to this.

And so this idea has basically taken over education in a lot of ways. And you know, there's four basic learning styles that show up in any number of these paradigms.

So you might have like the visual, but you might hear people say, I'm a visual learner, or I'm an auditory learner, or I'm reading, writing kind of learner, or, you know, one of the most common ones would be,

I'm a hands on learner, you know, I learned by doing. So people basically, in education, they're encouraging teachers to try to adopt these different learning styles.

And then if you have a classroom of kids, you're supposed to try to figure out what their individual learning styles are. And now you have a responsibility to teach them, you know, based on their preferred learning style.

And then if they can't learn, then you know, the assumption is that you just haven't taught them the way that they need to be taught in order for them to learn, right?

So then, so what you have is you have a situation where most people are, you know, like, like they do with all these things, they're categorizing themselves up in these arbitrary ways, based on their preferred learning style.

And then they're persuaded, you know, despite the fact that there's really very little to no evidence of any of this at all, they'll, they'll categorize themselves in this way, and then try to figure out what their learning style is.

And then, you know, things that they've identified as not being their learning style, then they'll say I can't learn that way.

And so it really is kind of a straight jacket in that way for people as well. But I mean, that's the basic idea. There's four, you know, give or take, depending on how you, who you're listening to.

There's four main learning styles, visual, auditory, reading, writing, and hands on. And then people divide themselves up in that way.

And then a teacher is supposed to basically figure out how to teach their students based on their preferred learning style.

So that's the way it goes. Okay. So that, so that's what they are. And then going back to the title question itself, are they real, basically, or are they just an, are they just something that's made up to feel, make dumb people feel smart?

Yes. Yeah. I mean, I guess, I guess the, the, maybe the question, maybe the question

I should have asked before any of this is, Hey, first of all, I mean, we're

Christians here. Are we allowed to call people dumb? Yes. Sure. Yeah.

Sure. I mean, I guess, you know, the Bible, the Bible seems to call people dumb. So stupid shows up all the time, you know, so if God is doing it, then, then maybe it's not so bad.

I mean, yeah. If done the right way. I mean, see, the thing is like these words, these words, these are words that have meaning.

And so part of when you're the, I mean, part of even the reason why you would even be having a discussion along this line is, is because as Christians, we believe in a

God of truth, right? So God is truth. Satan is the father of lies and there's a vested interest in our society right now to lie to people.

So this is just part of the impulse behind even discussing a topic like this is that you're living in a society right now that basically lies to each other and it does so on the basis of egalitarianism.

So the basic premise is that all people are basically the same and that's the operating assumption that most people take when they are entering into these kinds of discussions at all is the basic discussion that everyone is basically the same.

And so there's a vested interest in our society in minimizing differences. But then when you think about these words like dumb and smart,

I mean, these are comparative adjectives. So what you're, you're living in a world right now that's filled with sycophants essentially.

So you're living in a world filled with people who will lie to you just to make you feel better. And you know, like many people think that in order to have, you know, high self -esteem or whatever, to be well adjusted individual, you have to have people basically lie to you your whole life and tell you you're smart.

But then the issue is that if everyone's smart, then no one's smart. Because smart is a comparative adjective.

So everyone can't be intelligent. Like that's just the way it works. If everyone is intelligent, then that word is meaningless.

That just means everyone's average. But then these are words that actually have meaning. So you know, whatever you want to say, like most people are average intelligence.

When you think about this as intelligence is mapped upon a bell curve or whatever, most people are average intelligence range.

Some people are smart, right? Very few people are smart. And then on the other end of things, you have the same kind of percentage of people who are dumb, right?

And then you have people who are really smart, and you have people who are really dumb. And you know, whatever you want to call it, you're not really allowed to say it.

You think that that's like an insult, but it's just, it is what it is. You used to have a generation of people who knew that they weren't smart.

So right now we tell everyone that everyone is smart. And then this has massive societal ramifications for the way we even think about the world, how we pursue certain activities.

So if you tell, like the issue is if you tell everyone that everyone's smart, then inevitably what you're going to do is lower the standards of achievement.

That's the one thing that you're going to do. But then what you're also going to do is you're going to incentivize a lot of people going to college and getting higher education who can't handle it because they don't have the brain for it.

And so then what you do is you make them a debt slave to all this college debt that they're never going to be able to pay off, right?

And then they're not even going to be able to pass. And so really, like when you think about it, this is a pretty evil thing to do is to, you that they have certain gifts that they don't have, it's almost like,

I mean, you can imagine people going on singing shows or whatever, singing competition shows who are persuaded that they know how to sing.

And then no one has ever told them in their life that they're horrible at this. Pete All my friends said I could sing so well.

But then the situation is then they go on these shows, they embarrass themselves. Well, that's a lot of what's happening in higher education is that you have a lot of people who have been told their whole life that they're smart.

And if they can just kind of figure out their learning style or something along those lines, then they're going to have everything they need in order to be able to go to college and be successful.

And they don't even think what they need to be doing is thinking in terms of what they're actually gifted at doing. And it may not be that they're gifted at learning.

So if they're not gifted at learning, they're not gifted at learning. And you telling them that they're smart, they just have to figure out their learning style.

All that's doing is just lying to them and setting them up for failure when really, maybe they need to be doing a blue collar job or skilled trade job at that point, just because they don't have the mental capacity to handle complicated tasks, tasks that require significant intelligence in that way.

Which, I mean, with the way the job economy is right now, that's not even a bad route to go.

You know, I mean, a lot of times you're going to make more money than someone who did go to college if you're pursuing a trade and things like that.

Well, think about that though. Why would you look down on manual labor and skilled labor?

The only reason why you would look down on that is because you're brainwashing everyone to think that the only way to make it in the world is to be intelligent.

Do you see what I mean? Pete Right, yeah. Jared Really, I mean, you have a lot of people who just simply aren't made to be brains, okay?

And you think about what the Bible says at that point that, I mean, God's given people different abilities.

So, some he's given, like, some could be described as a mouth, you know, some could be described as a brain, some could be described as hands, you know, so God's given us different talents, he's given us different abilities.

And the way that we're going to actually have a good life and glorify

God is to understand the way that he's made us and the things that he's made us to do. And I mean, it really is kind of interesting because at my last church

I was at, being a pastor, I spent a lot of time sitting in chairs and learning.

And, you know, I had a church member who's just, I mean, he's really big, you know, like strong, big, strong Southern guy, right?

So, he's a big, strong Southern guy. And he'd look at me all the time, and he had a desk job. So, he had finished college and all that, and he had a desk job, and he would talk about how it just drives him crazy, right?

Like, it would drive him crazy doing this desk job. And he'd look at me and he's like, don't you just feel like you're going to go crazy sitting here all day long, you know, reading books and stuff.

And I'm like, no, I'm good with it. I'm fine, you know.

But then he ended up, you know, basically getting a job in construction and he was just happy, you know, like he could work with his hands all day long, you know.

And I mean, you know, when you have a lot of muscles, I mean, that's the kind of thing you want to do. You want to go out and you want to use them, you know, and just sitting there and using things that you're not made to use, it's just not the way it works, you know.

So, but basically, like, you're living in a society right now that will lie to people, essentially.

Yeah. And tell them that they're all smart and then push them into fields that require certain things of them that they're never going to be able to do, and they're not even going to be happy doing it.

So, you know, that's part of it. And then they even go so far as to essentially train, like, kind of like what you're saying already, but train people to think that they're better than others for having gone through college.

When the reality is like, like I was saying earlier, honestly, for, for a lot of people, not going, skipping college and, and learning a trade or something like that ends up being a lot more profitable overall for them.

I mean, go be a plumber, you can get like $300 an hour or something ridiculous like that. Right. I mean, I mean, it's crazy how much you can make doing some of these jobs that you would look at on the surface and think like, oh, that's, you know, that's an undesirable thing, right?

Like our society looks down on those kinds of things, even though you need all those things. So I don't really understand the whole looking down on them all the time because we need all of them.

But, but that does lead me to everything that you're talking about just there that does sort of lead me into the next question

I had, which was my suspicion is, you know, a lot of people seeing this episode are probably going to think to themselves, you know, what, what is the, like, is there any actual spiritual application to asking a question like this?

I mean, is there any sort of like, why, why as a reformed Christian podcast, are we talking about learning styles?

That's not something that you typically see a lot of Christians discussing. So, so what is the, you know, spiritual motivation behind trying to talk about these things?

Jared Yeah, sure. So, I mean, I think in order to answer that question, it may be helpful just to try to explain the rationale for why, why we're, why

I'm answering it that way, right? Jared So why I'm answering it that way and then why it matters, okay?

So like thinking in terms of why am I answering it that way? Like the issue is that like intelligent people learn, okay?

It's just like it just is the way it is, okay? So part of this is just you have to come face to face with the reality that people are different and there are intelligent people and there are dumb people, like that's just the way the world works, okay?

So you take a, you take a person who's highly intelligent and like most people,

I guess they can't put themselves most, like if you're not like really, really intelligent, then you can't really understand what we're even talking about, okay?

But then the issue is like you think about like a child prodigy or something along those lines, they learn, okay?

Like they learn, you can't stop them from learning, okay? So like when you think about like geniuses, like people who are like very, very smart, they learn like very, very quickly, you know?

Often they talk very soon and they can learn. I mean, you can imagine like a child prodigy on the piano or something like that, they just absorb information.

Like you think about people who have photographic memories, there's not, like they just absorb information, okay?

So I mean, you're thinking through these like learning styles like visual, auditory, reading, writing, kinesthetic, whatever, it doesn't matter.

Like people who are made to learn, learn, that's the way it works, okay? And then like so like the idea that everyone can learn equally, that's the assumption that undergirds this project is that somehow like learning is just like everyone learns the same or something.

Like everyone has the same capacity to learn, you just have to tap into these different learning styles. But the issue is like intelligent people learn, okay?

So like and you think about like what it takes to actually get high and like to advance in the academy.

And what it takes is like people sitting down and reading all day long every day and studying and being able to sit in a lecture and absorb what's being communicated.

So there's no shortcut to this, okay? Like the issue is that intelligent people, they have like absorbed massive quantities of information, that's the way it works.

So like you see these individuals who like the people who are writing the science textbooks and everything else, the people who are writing

Bible commentaries, they have absorbed massive quantities of information.

And when they speak, you have this sense that there's so much underneath the surface, right? Like what's coming out is the tip of the iceberg and there's a vast quantity of information that they have obtained, you know, that they've gotten into their brain that is now you're only getting a small portion of it coming out in any given encounter.

So I mean that's like the issue is that the academy is the academy for a reason, higher education is higher education for a reason.

People who excel at it, excel at it and there's nothing you can do to stop them. You know, they're going to learn visually, they're going to learn auditory, they're going to learn reading, writing, they're going to learn kinesthetic by doing, they're going to learn, they're just made to learn.

So and then like the idea is that anyone has some kind of specific learning type.

In a lot of ways, this is just cope, you know, it's just like this is a myth that people have based on the assumption that everyone is basically has the same learning capacity, but it's just not the way it works.

Intelligent people are going to learn and then people who aren't, like the issue is that people who aren't really geared towards learning, they often enjoy like the hands -on stuff, you know, and they can learn in that way, but they're not made to absorb information.

And so, you know, that's what this conversation is about. So what this conversation is about is that people are different.

And so really, I mean, like this is a myth, okay? The idea that there's these learning styles, this is a myth and the evidence doesn't show it, the studies doesn't show it, the reality everyone learns in every single different way.

And the best way to learn is to try to do all these things at once if you can, okay? So like the issue is like if you can,

I mean, anyone who just try to study a language and you'll realize that there's no magical way to learn a language, right?

So try to learn a language hands -on. It's easy.

Like at a certain point, it just reduces to absurdity, right? Like if you want to learn a language, you're going to have to sit there and do your flash cards and you're going to have to read, you're going to have to learn your paradigms and everything else.

And you're going to have to talk to people. And but I mean, like the idea of just, you know, using your hands and figuring it out or whatever else, it's just, it's not the way it works, okay?

So anyways, like why would we discuss something like this? Well, the reason why we discuss something like this, it's related to some of the things

I've already mentioned. So God's obviously made people different. He hasn't made everyone the same. He's given people different gifts.

Talents and abilities. And, you know, you do want to, if you want to know how to be useful in the world, it's actually helpful for you to figure out what

God's made you to do and do it, if that makes sense. Yeah. Jared So having some kind of understanding of what kind of person you are,

I mean, you can spend the rest of your life playing to your weaknesses or you can spend the rest of your life playing to your strengths.

And, you know, God's obviously just made people very differently. And this is, I mean, it's important for people to realize.

And, you know, so thinking along these lines, I mean, like thinking about things along these lines and thinking about the assumptions that undergird this project,

I mean, it'd be very helpful for people like my, you know, like the church member I mentioned, like it'd have been better for him to never go to college.

It'd have been better for him to, you know, get out of high school and go work construction at the very beginning, but then he was lied to his whole life and told to pursue a certain path and then he realized he was completely and fundamentally unhappy doing that path because that really wasn't what he was made to do.

He wasn't made for a desk job, right? But then he was told that in order to be okay, in order to be a success in life, then he has to basically work a very specific kind of job made for someone who's more of a brain and less of a hand, right?

So, I mean, these are very important questions, like in terms of counseling and pastoral kind of questions is to think through, you know, what has

God made you to do and, you know, God hasn't made everyone to be white collar workers, right?

Like He hasn't made everyone to be CEOs of corporations. He's trying to have some kind of understanding of what you're made to do will help you in life to funnel you into directions where you're actually going to do well.

But then if you spend your whole life, you know, pursuing a plan that is doomed to fail, then don't be surprised if it fails.

And so, you know, one of the things the Bible says is whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. That work is

God's gift to man. And I think, you know, whatever our prejudices that we have related to certain kinds of jobs that we think that we're entitled to and everything else, we do have to realize that God's made work, work is good, and there's different types of work, and you might want to figure out what you're made to do in order to do the best kind of work and to be most fulfilled in your life and everything else too.

So these are just very important questions for particularly for young people to sort through. So just a quick follow -up question with all of that.

What is the difference between you, you know, essentially saying, hey, there is merit to trying to find a job that, you know, you're good at and it seems like to a certain sense is actually fulfilling to you.

What's the difference between that and the person who's, you know, they're passing up job after job after job because it's just not their dream job or, you know, that old phrase that, you know, if you find the job that you enjoy, that you enjoy, you'll never work a day in your life.

What is the difference between that perspective on work and the perspective that you're presenting?

Because I think there are probably some people who are listening who might get confused and might be tempted to think that you're saying the exact same thing.

Um, you know, as those who are essentially saying, hey, don't, don't, don't work just any job, you know, forget being able to provide for your family or whatever you need to find the, the job that you've dreamed of and, and that kind of, you know, that, that perspective essentially.

Yeah, sure. So, I mean, I, I would consider myself more of a, like more of a brain type. Okay. I would consider myself like gifted in that way.

I enjoy like puzzles. I enjoy problem solving. You know, I, there's a lot of things that,

I mean, that can be like really satisfying for me, but I mean, it's interesting after, you know, me finishing seminary, most of the jobs that I took after seminary were blue collar jobs that just involved, you know, like I did appliance delivery for a good bit just because I had to put food on the table and there weren't any pastor jobs knocking on the door right straight out of seminary.

You know, most of the pastor jobs I was looking at wanted someone who had 10 years of pastoral experience and everything else at the outset, you know.

So, I mean, I have that at this point, but I mean, like the issue is I did whatever it took in order to provide for a family and those weren't necessarily jobs that, like, you know, doing appliance delivery, you know,

I worked at UPS while I was at, while during seminary loading boxes on truck, you know,

I worked in granite countertops for, you know, different times running a

CNC machine and everything else. I would say that those jobs weren't even remotely, like, satisfying in the sense of just naturally something

I was drawn to. I just, I did it and I did it with a good attitude because I'm a Christian and, you know, whatever state he's going to be in, you be content and I never complained about any of it, you know.

So, I think there's, the reality is a Christian can, like, there's anything that your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, do the best you can.

God opens doors. You know, you shouldn't be thinking of jobs in terms of, like, certain jobs that are below your dignity or anything along those lines.

Like, good work, there's good work to do and you should do it, you know. I think at the same time though, there is a reality that if you can understand the gifts, the talents, the abilities that God has given you, if he's given you certain gifts and talents and abilities, then using those gifts and talents and abilities is better than not.

Pete Right. Jared You know, all other things being equal, right? So, like, meaning, like, I mean, if he's given you a brain, then use it, you know.

If he's given you strength, then use it. Use what he's given you, you know. So, I think that there's, like, if you think about the way the world works and the way

God's made people, he hasn't made everyone the same, and you're going to be most useful to the world if you do something that you're good at, if that makes sense.

Pete Yeah, yeah. Jared So, you know, it was good that Einstein devoted himself to the things that he devoted, you know what

I mean? Now, could he have been a janitor? Sure. You see what I'm saying? Pete Right. Jared Sure, he could have been a janitor, and that would be fine work, and that's noble work and honorable work and everything else, but then if he does what he's made to do, if he does the thing that he can do the best, the whole world is benefited.

Everyone's benefited around, you know, everyone is benefited in that way. So, I mean, the same thing is true of individuals who build houses, you know?

If that's what God's made you to do, you're going to do that better than someone who's not made to do it. So, I mean,

I'm not trying to overcomplicate things, I'm just trying to say that having one of the ways in which parents can be actually helpful to their kids is to help funnel them into things that they're actually good at, and not just be trying to live vicariously through them and put them in, push them towards areas that they don't excel in.

You see what I'm saying? So, like, thinking about what are your kids, what are they good at, what do they gravitate towards?

Now, I mean, I think the distortion of this comes when, you know, you have the guy who's played video games his whole life and never learned a marketable skill, and, you know, so he's like, well,

I guess my career is going to be, like, how can I benefit the world while being a Twitch streamer or whatever, conveniently.

Now, I mean, I think you need to say, hey, what does the world need, and how can we accomplish it? Like, having a broader vision beyond just, like, what can

I do to make money? Like, what are some things I could do to actually benefit the world, and what gifts have God given me to do that, you know?

So, I think, yeah, whatever you find to do, you do it with all your might. You be content in whatever circumstance you find yourself in.

It's better to think in terms of, like, not just, like, what do

I think I might like doing? Because often people don't know, but, I mean, I think just thinking in terms of what am

I made, like, how am I made? What are some things that I excel at? And having other people speak into that can help you be in a job that you don't necessarily, absolutely hate, you know?

So, for some people, I mean, they may like customer service -related jobs, or maybe other people who just can't stand it, you know?

Pete Right. Jared So, trying to find something that you're gifted at is not a bad thing, you know?

But I think at the end of the day, having the integrity to do, like, you look out there and say, hey, what needs to be done, and do it with a good attitude, and don't overthink it either, if that makes sense.

Pete Okay. Fair enough. Well, I think that's a good place for us to wrap up the conversation. So, thank you,

Tim, for answering all my questions related to that. And we want to thank you guys, too, who are listening.

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