A book that shakes up everything we thought we knew about how the brain absorbs and retains information - and gives us the keys to reach our fullest potential in every walk of life. What if almost everything we were told about learning is wrong? And what if there was a way to achieve more with less effort? Here Carey sifts through decades of research to uncover the truth about learning. Along the way he reveals why teachers should give final exams on the first day of class, why the brain responds well to distraction and why it's smarter to stay up late prepping for that exam than to rise early for one last cram session. If the brain is a learning maching, then it is an eccentric one. Here we learn how to exploit its quirks to our advantage...