The Importance of Being Educable
A New Theory of Human Uniqueness
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The Importance of Being Educable
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Narrated by:
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Rachel Perry
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By:
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Leslie Valiant
About this listen
If we hope to share our planet successfully with one another and the AI systems we are creating, we must reflect on who we are, how we got here, and where we are heading. The Importance of Being Educable puts forward a provocative new exploration of the extraordinary facility of humans to absorb and apply knowledge. The remarkable "educability" of the human brain can be understood as an information processing ability. It sets our species apart, enables the civilization we have, and gives us the power and potential to set our planet on a steady course. While we can readily absorb systems of thought about worlds of experience beyond our own, we struggle to judge correctly what information we should trust.
In this visionary book, Leslie Valiant argues that understanding the nature of our own educability is crucial to safeguarding our future. After breaking down how we process information to learn and apply knowledge, and drawing comparisons with other animals and AI systems, he explains why education should be humankind's central preoccupation.
Will the unique capability that has been so foundational to our achievements and civilization continue to drive our progress, or will we fall victim to our vulnerabilities? If we want to protect our collective future, we must better understand and prioritize the importance of being educable.
©2024 Leslie Valiant (P)2024 TantorRelated to this topic
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 405
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 370
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 370
The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining perhaps but not science.
- By Jerry Miller on 07-31-24
By: Zoë Schlanger
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On the Edge
- The Art of Risking Everything
- By: Nate Silver
- Narrated by: Nate Silver
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 393
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 368
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Story4 out of 5 stars 368
In the bestselling The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver showed how forecasting would define the age of Big Data. Now, in this timely and riveting new book, Silver investigates "The River," or those whose mastery of risk allows them to shape—and dominate—so much of modern life. These professional risk takers—poker players and hedge fund managers, crypto true-believers and blue-chip art collectors—can teach us much about navigating the uncertainty of the 21st century.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating report from a distant land
- By David Benjamin on 09-14-24
By: Nate Silver
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Takeover
- Hitler's Final Rise to Power
- By: Timothy W. Ryback
- Narrated by: Richard Attlee
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler’s National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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America repeats history.
- By Ian on 04-15-24