How does ChatGPT affect your ability to learn, recall, and share information?

In this episode, Therese Markow and Natalie Wexler discuss the impact of generative AI (like ChatGPT) on education. They discuss the change in writing skills, how AI can undermine the learning process that comes with writing, and the incorrect information often provided by generative AI. Natalie explains how AI can function as cognitive outsourcing, which can reduce the cognitive benefits of learning and memory retention. She emphasizes the importance of explicit writing instruction in education and background fundamental knowledge stored in long-term memory for critical thinking and effective learning - including the importance of memorization (even if you don't use that word). Finally, Natalie warns of a potential downward spiral where AI dependence weakens cognitive abilities and advocates for systematic changes to combat this trend.

Key Takeaways:

• Generally speaking, reading and writing are connected. But writing is harder, so you can be a good reader and still not be a good writer. However, if you learn to write well, you're almost certainly going to be a good reader as well.

• The problem is over-reliance on AI, and when students use it as a crutch, they don't develop the understanding or the cognitive abilities that they would develop if they did the cognitive work themselves.

• Writing helps with the cognitive processes of long-term memory, retrieval, elaboration, and more. When we offload that cognitive work, it can hamper our ability to retrieve the information from our long-term memory bank.

• Unconsciously, we use background knowledge to understand pretty much anything that we try to read.

• Democracy depends on a citizenry that is educated enough to understand the issues and to be able to distinguish misleading information from reliable information.

"Writing is, itself, a way of thinking, of deepening understanding, maybe of realizing that you didn't understand something as well as you thought you did, and you need to go and do some more research. If we skip that step of doing the writing, then we're missing out on developing those cognitive abilities, retaining knowledge, and deepening our understanding of things." — Natalie Wexler

Connect with Natalie Wexler:

Professional Bio: https://nataliewexler.com/about/

Show: https://nataliewexler.com/podcast/

Substack: https://nataliewexler.substack.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-wexler-0b89979/

Books:

• Beyond the Science of Reading: https://nataliewexler.com/beyond-the-science-of-reading/

• The Knowledge Gap: https://nataliewexler.com/the-knowledge-gap/

• The Writing Revolution: https://nataliewexler.com/the-writing-revolution/twr-2-0-cover-amazon/

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social

Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Ru Marshall pulls back the curtain on the man behind the myth of Carlos Castaneda, exposing the real lives, lies, and losses buried beneath his legendary books.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Ru Marshall discuss the life and legacy of Carlos Castaneda, who claimed to have been trained as a shaman by Don Juan. Castaneda's books, which sold over 8 million copies, were initially believed but later dismissed as fiction. Marshall's book, "American Trickster," explores Castaneda's origins in Peru and his life in the U.S. Castaneda, born Cesar Arana, was a charismatic storyteller who seduced both women and academics. Despite initial academic support, his claims were eventually debunked. Ru's research spanned 20 years, revealing Castaneda's complex personal life and the impact of his cult-like following.

Key Takeaways:

• Long before the books, Carlos Castaneda was known as a gifted storyteller and trickster, blurring the line between entertainment, fabrication, and manipulation.

• Castaneda's real power was psychological. He made individuals, especially women, feel uniquely seen, chosen, and special, a classic mechanism of charismatic control.

• The disappearance and deaths of key followers after Castaneda's passing reveal the devastating human cost when a closed belief system collides with reality. And when followers are willing to follow a narrative all the way to the end.

"It's a really interesting thing, that when people, both professionally and, more importantly, I think, emotionally, become invested in a belief, it is incredibly hard for people to admit they're wrong." — Ru Marshall

Connect with Ru Marshall:

Website: https://rmarshallstudio.com/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@robtmars

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robtmars/

American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda: https://orbooks.com/catalog/american-trickster/

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social

Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Patrick Wyman discuss Patrick's latest book, Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World. Patrick also discusses his journey as a historian from studying the Fall of Rome to popular history. He emphasizes the importance of understanding past climactic changes and their impact on human societies, including the development of agriculture and the rise of social hierarchies. Patrick also highlights the significance of migration and the diverse burial practices that reveal aspects of ancient societies' beliefs and social structures.

Key Takeaways:

• Human history is not stable, and it always starts with the climate. Climate and environment are the unavoidable parameters within which everyone is living, and, whether people are aware of them or not, they are responding to the pressures and shifts that are happening climatically around them.

• Abandonment of sites and cities happens over time and often for a variety of reasons that are always specific to the climate systems and problems of that particular area.

• Modern science, like ancient DNA extraction, now allows us to learn more about dynamics in ancient periods that we never could have seen before.

• Funerary practices vary across the world in ancient times, as they do in modern times. Often, it is based on one of two poles: when people die, are their spirits potentially dangerous (ghost society) or potentially beneficial (ancestor society)?

• Every single one of the billions of people who lived was living a life that was full, rich, sophisticated, and complex.

• As humans, we have been through big, crazy stuff, and yet we are still here and still thriving. Humanity is incredibly durable, and we can make it through some really, really bad times if we work hard and work together.

"Migration is humanity's most basic tool for getting out of bad situations and finding better ones. The simplest possible thing you can do if things get bad wherever you're living is to move somewhere else. And this has been our response at every time and on every geographic scale over the course of human existence." — Patrick Wyman

Episode References:

• Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World - https://www.harpercollins.com/products/lost-worlds-patrick-wyman?variant=43084775817250

Connect with Patrick Wyman:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@wyman_patrick

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@patrick.wyman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wyman_patrick/

Substack: https://substack.com/@patrickwyman

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/patrickwyman.bsky.social

Shows:

The Fall of Rome: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fall-of-rome-podcast/id1141563910

Tides of History: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tides-of-history/id1257202425

Past Lives: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coming-soon-past-lives/id1852618120?i=1000736506949

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social

Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.