Learning by getting it wrong

While writing a blog for another site, I wanted to use the metaphor of the old Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) battery memory effect problem. For those of you who remember the early portable devices, such as Sony's Discman, they used NiCd batteries. We were warned through the documentation and our friends that we should always completely drain the battery before recharging. Otherwise, the battery would lose its ability to charge fully and develop a memory for a certain charge level, sometimes called a set point.

I wanted to allude to the fact that people can develop this set point as well, losing the ability to learn only so much, which was far less than what their original capacity would indicate.

Upon further research, I learned that the memory effect wasn't really there. It was mostly about the behavior of cheap chargers and the perception, not the fact, that the battery wasn't fully charged. The explanation is nicely summed up in Dan's Quick Guide to Memory Effect, You Idiots.

The metaphor works even better. People can learn, even when their brains appear to be over-full or when they appear to be not fully open to change. It may look as though they aren't learning and can't use the knowledge. Our perceptions of the way that others learn is, in part, what's faulty, as well as the charging (educational) system.

NiCd batteries are hazardous waste. I don't know where that fits into the metaphor.