I tutored Haskell to first-year students and I think the hardest part of picking it up is understanding that previous expertise won't help until you grok the distinctly new perspective with which you must approach problems.
I'm (somewhat) sceptical of the popular "Children inherently have the most malleable minds" trope, to the grand annoyance of one neuroscientist friend; I feel it's more an environmental factor stemming from fewer areas of growth/stress to focus on and increased motivation as they lack the jack-of-all-trades experience in similar areas to fall back on whenever they get frustrated. I like to believe this since it motivates me to overcome those limiting factors by adapting my work ethic, with the hope to continue learning efficiently.
Back on topic, I feel that the best mindset with which to approach Haskell (and many other new areas) is:
"I don't get much right now, but that's OK. If I keep working with what I know and expand that set by just a little every day, it's bound to click and I will be able to look back on the entire journey as worthwhile."
I feel that the best mindset with which to approach Haskell (and many other new areas) is: "I don't get much right now, but that's OK. If I keep working with what I know and expand that set by just a little every day, it's bound to click and I will be able to look back on the entire journey as worthwhile."
And I think that, itself, is a mindset that children more easily accept.
Children necessarily live in a world they can't yet fully understand (not that adults can, either, but we're more likely to live with the delusion that we can :). So I think they're more accepting of "you'll understand that later" than an adult is.
So I agree with you, I don't think children are necessarily more malleable. But I do think they have a lack of ego, an openness to knew things, an acceptance (or maybe it's ignorance) of their own limitations, and far less fear of failure than the typical adult. And that I find incredibly inspirational, and something I try (and usually fail) to apply to my own life.
I agree. The other day I was looking at some tutorial on Haskell type classes that I didn't understand earlier and it just clicked for me on the third-fourth try. We think, with our experience, that the learning-pipe going to our brain is the size of an oil pipeline but it's really only the size of a straw.
Well, you're not alone. I also think the "malleability" we see in children is just because of the attributes of their existence: nothing to worry about, nothing to do but play (and voluntary learning is play) and so on.
And like you, I also use this to motivate me in Haskell. Little by little I learn things I didn't know before. It takes me years but I do it at the pace I choose. And why would Haskell be different from any other subject I learned as an adult? Everything makes no sense in the beginning, then it's hard, then you can kind of see what they're talking about, then you get some practice, and before you know it you are equipped enough to dig into intermediate stuff and then the advanced parts.
Was it not the Japanese that came up with Kaizen - continuous improvement? I believe in that principle.
I'm (somewhat) sceptical of the popular "Children inherently have the most malleable minds" trope, to the grand annoyance of one neuroscientist friend; I feel it's more an environmental factor stemming from fewer areas of growth/stress to focus on and increased motivation as they lack the jack-of-all-trades experience in similar areas to fall back on whenever they get frustrated. I like to believe this since it motivates me to overcome those limiting factors by adapting my work ethic, with the hope to continue learning efficiently.
Back on topic, I feel that the best mindset with which to approach Haskell (and many other new areas) is: "I don't get much right now, but that's OK. If I keep working with what I know and expand that set by just a little every day, it's bound to click and I will be able to look back on the entire journey as worthwhile."