“The power of our mental plasticity is profoundly shocking and almost supernatural.” – David Bessis
I recently came across Bessis through somebody linking to his X/Twitter thread on how the way we teach math is wrong. I was intrigued by what I read, and bought his book, Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity.
Bessis’s call to action is that “Learning math should be like learning any other motor skill, like learning to swim or ride a bike, and it should be accessible to everyone.” But this is hard, because “we learn precisely when we force ourselves to imagine things that we don’t yet understand, which unfortunately is the same exact thing that most people run away from … the fastest way to learn is to follow the path of maximum perplexity.” “Progress is slow because the body needs time to transform itself. It doesn’t help to force it, which may end up hurting you. You just need to commit to a regular training schedule, keep your cool, keep going even when it seems you’re not making any progress.”
I totally agree, and would extend that idea to every skill in life, whether it’s math, business, leadership, skiing, or empathy; I have not yet found something where I didn’t improve once I started investing in regular training of that skill. Humans have more capacity to change and adapt than we often imagine, but only if we are willing to push through the discomfort of making mistakes while learning.
I was so excited by what I read that I wrote a longer review / summary of the book. Check it out at