Why when learning how to play something, such as an instrument, does something suddenly click and you suddenly become much better at that skill?
And does this apply for learning anything? Such as programming or are some things just learnt at a constant rate by certain people.
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The click is a neural pathway being formed in the brain. Sometimes called a wave of crystallization. It is the chemistry of learning.
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It’s not just one thing that creates the effect, creation of new pathways in the brain, ignoring prior wrong assumptions, activating neurons relating to memory.
If you are trying to go from a to b on a map but you thought that you were unable to turn left on certain intersections and then you find out that’s not the case then the route shortens drastically, that would be the click.
“Clicking” is when what was previously an island of knowledge suddenly gets connected to the mainland of the rest of your knowledge. You can visualize it like solving a jigsaw puzzle and suddenly finding where a block of tiles you’ve been working on connects to the big picture.
Humans use a learning technique called “working maps” to allow us to navigate problems we’ve never seen before in a totally abstract space. When the brain recognizes a large piece of that map (say, that controlling a surfboard is somewhat like turning a bike) it’s suddenly able to make a whole bunch of related leaps of inference at the same time based on that more familiar territory.
Anything that you’re learning that has a strong analogue with something you’ve already learned is going to “click” at some point. Anything that is less intuitive or totally unfamiliar will be less likely to give you that learning curve.
The brain is very complex, and there really isn’t one definitive answer for your question. Though there is a good word for it: epiphany, or a sudden realization. Presumably, as others have said, the reason why we have an epiphany is because the synapses in our brains make associations to the newly learned information. However, that is only one part of the equation. We “notice” an epiphany because associations are also made in other parts of the brain. For example, if we are emotionally invested then having an epiphany may illicit a “proud” response. Our brains also release serotonin as a result of learning something, which can explain a “feel good” sensation.
Knowledge builds on knowledge. Quite frequently, in order to understand a topic, you have to understand a lot of little sub-topics first, and when you have finally learned all of the sub-topics and are now feeling confident and capable, it ‘clicks’.
As an example, math and I haven’t ever really gotten along. Between an ineffectual public education system, poor teachers, and a touch of neuro-divergence, I just kept falling behind and consequently, when I encounter math-related challenges these days, it’s difficult and frustrating.
It just so happens that a lot of the stuff I’m working on these days is leaning on calculus in order to make it work. The thing is, when I sit down and commit to working through the learning material methodically and patiently, it eventually comes together. I have to learn a lot between breakthroughs. What does this symbol mean? wtf is a lemma? Or a ‘genus *G* region’? But then I learn the little things. I find the meaning of the symbol or the word and eventually, I get it.
It finally ‘clicked’. All of the necessary pieces of the puzzle have come together and now it makes sense. It ‘clicked’.
I just read, and google, and read, and google. And then it comes together and once I’ve understood the underlying material, everything eventually ‘clicks’.
It does apply to learning anything! You mentioned programming for example and that happened to me! I was having a really hard time grasping the concept of arrays. After a few days I went back to the professor and asked him to re-explain the concept in similar terms and I guess he explained it in exactly the way I needed.
That click was so loud I almost heard it. It came with the whole excited “OOOOOOOOHHH!”. After that, I didn’t have nearly as much difficulty with arrays as I had before.
Sometimes the ‘click’ is figuring out how to relate it to something you already know, turning it from unfamiliar into something mostly familiar.
Imagine starting a new job and learning your route to work. The “click” happens very early, but it’s when you’ve done it once or twice and realize “oh, it’s like going to [other place] except I turn at [landmark]” and suddenly 75-90% of the route is no longer ‘new’.
Not one answer here provided any sources or even credentials, may as well just not write anything.
Nobody here knows how the brain works including me
The click is what happens when we go from knowing something to understanding it. When we understand something, it becomes a lot easier for us to apply that knowledge to new hypothetical scenarios that we’ve never encountered before.
Math is a great example. I can tell you that 2 + 2 = 4 and you can memorize that fact. When you go to write the test, you’ll be able to answer “2 + 2 = ?”. But if you don’t understand how addition works, then you probably aren’t going to be able to figure out “3 + 3 = ?” or any other question because you’ve never seen that before and don’t know how it works. As a result, you’re going to score very poorly on your test.
But once you know how addition works, you can add any two numbers together, even if you’ve never seen those two numbers added together before. Now, you can correctly answer every question on the test. The click is the moment you realize you now understand how addition works and are now capable of solving all these problems that you couldn’t solve before. And that newfound ability to solve these problems is the sudden leap in skill.
I’m not going to answer your second question because if you understand my explanation, then you should have that click moment and suddenly now be able to answer it yourself.
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