Rubén Calviño cautions that common study techniques inflate perceived learning, signaling potential waste in corporate upskilling investments
Executive summary: Rubén Calviño, a Galician educator, stated in his recent book that the brain makes people believe they are learning much more than they truly are, criticizing popular study techniques as largely ineffective. If widespread learning methods are inefficient, companies may be misallocating training budgets and overestimating the return on upskilling initiatives.
Who is involved: Rubén Calviño (author/teacher), El País (publisher), corporate HR and learning‑and‑development teams.
Likely next: Organizations may begin to audit training efficacy and shift toward evidence‑based learning interventions, while providers of e‑learning content could face pressure to demonstrate measurable skill gains.
In his book ‘Tu cerebro tiene truco’, Galician teacher Rubén Calviño argues that the brain creates an illusion of learning that far exceeds actual knowledge acquisition, debunking widely used study methods. He points out that many techniques praised by learners and educators are, in practice, low‑efficiency. The commentary raises questions about the effectiveness of current corporate training programs that rely on similar approaches.
Timeline
- — Rubén Calviño, maestro: “El cerebro nos hace creer que estamos aprendiendo mucho más de lo que realmente aprendemos” (El País — Economía)
Analysis — what this means
Sectors affected
- Corporate training and upskilling
- E-learning platforms
- Human resources consulting