Book Reading #43: Things That Make Us Smart

Reference Information
Title: Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine
Author: Donald Norman
Publisher: 1994 Basic Books

Chapter 1: A Human-Centered Technology
Summary
This chapter introduced the book, describing the problems with technology having a machine-oriented view since humans are not meant to act that way. Norman suggests that we should move towards a human-centered view of technology and people, taking into account facts such that people are easily distracted and influenced by emotion when designing new systems in order to reduce error. Finally, he discussed two kinds of cognition: experiential (leads to a state where we react to events ) and reflective (compare and contrast thoughts; decision-making).

Discussion
I think Norman made a good point about the difference between machine-oriented and human-oriented views. Devices do not take emotions and human unpredictability into account, which allows for more possible human error. Realizing that humans are humans when designing something may just lead to a product that is easier to use.

Chapter 2: Experiencing the World
Summary
This chapter discussed the different levels of cognition, and how they apply within different instances of the real world. Tools for each type of cognition are suggested, and it is emphasized that they must work together to be fully efficient. The different kinds of learning were discussed, including accretion (accumulation of facts), tuning (practice that leads to experiential, expert knowledge), and restructuring (reflective thought that forms conceptual structures of learning).

Discussion 
I liked the suggestions about how to improve learning, such as merging video games with educators to create a simulated environment with social interaction for learning. In particular, I thought it was interesting that the most important part of learning seems to be motivation, and that the same processes for playing a game are used for learning, except that motivation is usually lacking regarding education.