Tacit Learners, not the Learned, Often Rise to the Top

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The aim of the statement “Tacit Learner Not Often the Learned Rises to the Top” is not to run down or belittle the hallowed, learned degree holders but to focus on the urgent need to achieve a magical amalgamation of tacit and explicit learning methods to enable the youth to fully prepare for the future. The future currently appears to be clouded by the all-pervading Artificial Intelligence, which is progressing to Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), which can exceed human capabilities putting them at risk of subordinate positions or, in an extreme case, extinction.

 

What is this new-fangled idea of TACIT Learning, purportedly with a magical power? To be precise let us go to the Cambridge dictionary, which defines ‘Tacit Knowledge’ as “knowledge that you do not get from being taught, or from books, etc. but get from personal experience”. A few practitioners elaborate and add that intuition and insights gained through experiences are the real source of the power of tacit knowledge. As per the Google snippet, Nonaka, in his 1994 paper, stated that “Tacit knowledge is the knowledge that individuals possess; explicit knowledge is the knowledge derived in tangible form. Cultivating explicit knowledge is the aim of business schools in the form of historical management theories and business models.” Some experts contend that the concept of tacit knowledge is ignored or given a back seat in many academic courses.

 

It must be affirmed that the explicit knowledge-focused academic system has served well so far and will be required in the future along with tacit knowledge.

To rise to the top one has to have the ability to predict the future and be proactive. The future is shaped by thousands of influencing factors. Here, too, it is tacit knowledge based on experiences, intuition, and insights that scores higher levels. There are many ‘scientific’ analytical processes and software products to help corporate executives and other professionals to forecast trends for business planning. Consultants offering such products and services have enormous data banks and intricate processes built by spending billions of dollars over the years. They also have talented experts.

And yet, Philip Tetlock, in his bestseller book Superforecasting, written after 20 years of field research, claims: “We now know a few hundred ordinary people and some simple math can not only compete with professionals supported by a multibillion-dollar apparatus but beat them”. And what’s more – “ordinary people who could – without the assistance of any algorithmic magic - beat the IC (Intelligence Community)”. John Horgan of the Stevens Institute of Technology, commenting on the book says, “Tetlock is renowned for demonstrating that most experts are no better than dart-throwing monkeys at predicting………."(Emphasis added)

In essence, everyone must remember that “learned” is the adjective and past tense of the verb ‘to learn’ and ‘learned’ means that the process is completed. But, the dimensions of knowledge of a particular discipline as well as allied ones are ever expanding. So to be ‘Up-To-Date’ and to rise to the top one has to be a continuous, lifelong ‘learner’.

Here are a few, real-life ‘guiding stars’ for reaching the pinnacle without being only ‘learned’ but by being  ‘life-long, continuous learners’.

Incidentally, this is a mandatory practice in the medical field. To renew a medical practitioner's license, they must meet the following conditions:

• Complete continuing medical education (CME) credits: Medical practitioners must earn a certain number of CME credits each year or over a set period. 

Real-Life Examples

It would be an exaggeration to project the tacit knowledge gained through experience as a new discovery. There are many real-life legendary leaders and common folks who thrived on tacit knowledge. Google searches (AI Overviews) reveal the following.

• Abraham Lincoln had very little formal education but was mostly self-educated through reading and life experiences. He attended a few "ABC schools" run by itinerant teachers in log cabins.
• Akbar, the Mughal emperor was illiterate. However, he was a great patron of learning and worked to improve education in India.
• Thomas Edison “attended school only for a few months. He was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, who was a school teacher!” The biographer further adds that Edison was a very curious child, who spent “hours working on experiments at home”.
• Buffet, Gates, Zuckerberg, Elon Musk - These technocrats and billionaires have no doctorates or any other higher degrees but are tacit learners from books, i.e. ‘BOOKISH’ miracle makers. Here is a Google snippet presenting some of them: (i) Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. (ii) Bill Gates reads 50 books each year. (iii) Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. (iv) When asked how he learned to build rockets, Elon Musk said, “I read books.”
• Peter Drucker according to a report is reported to have “marinated his mind (i.e. learning tacitly) in great books: for example, he wrote about business alliances with reference to marriage alliances in Jane Austen’s novels.”
• Sir William Robertson was the first British General to rise from the ranks and became the Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
• Political Leaders - There are many wisecracks who decry and sometimes ridicule political leaders for lack of explicit education but, these politicians have an admirable capacity for tacit learning. The fact cannot be denied that most of them have high acumen and rich tacit knowledge. The common folk have tremendous common sense and politicians win their votes on the strength of reading their minds and emotions based on tacit knowledge, despite a reported deficit of explicit knowledge; a few have only studied up to 10^th or 12^th class  The ADR and Election Watch (NEW) report makes a reference to this too. 

Magic of Neuroplasticity

You may say, “All this is fine, but how do these pragmatic souls cope with and master mind-boggling, dramatic changes?”

The answer is with the support of the miraculous gift of brain chemistry and capacity.

 

It is scientifically proven and validated. According to psychologists, this almost miraculous phenomenon is called Neuroplasticity. You know plasticity means amenable to being moulded and shaped, right? The human brain has very high plasticity and what’s more, it rewires itself when exposed to new things through new experiences, learning, and experimentation by the individual. So, all that one has to do is decide to fight with determination and perseverance. That fight involves learning, counselling, exchange of ideas, and experimenting. The signals from all such activities lead the brain to self-rewire!

 

It can be argued that people differ and there must be some limit to this growth of capabilities.

 

Not really. An individual’s ambition determines the limit. According to neurologists, the brain is a miraculous organ with 86 billion neurons and billions of other cells with connections forming pathways. The rewiring has two main aspects. One is the growth of new neurons and the other, new pathways or connections between neurons to cope with the new environment. If some pathways are not used, they weaken and lapse, which is when we lose old abilities. The capacity of the brain is enormous. But studies have revealed that even the most intelligent people use only 15% of it and the average people use only 6-7 %.

 

It is, then, clear based on erudite and top writings and theories as well as practical evidence that the “Tacit Learner Not Often the Learned Rises to the Top”.

 

  

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