The Ultimate Aid to Learning
Some of the literature referred to in our study of sleep-learning suggests that there is very little that cannot be learned, accomplished, or cured by this method. The independent thinker may well raise a skeptical eyebrow.
On the other hand, careful study of the evidence of responsible observers indicates that there is great validity in the claims about sleep-learning. It can and has been a valuable aid to, but not a substitute for, learning with the conscious mind.
Responsible advocates stress the importance of conscious understanding of the material, of intelligent organization and analysis, of review during waking hours, of motivation and of interest in the material.
Where it is necessary to learn lists or material not in itself meaningful, literally by rote, sleep-learning sounds like an absolute blessing. Most of our basic learning is rote material, absolutely necessary before we can go on to analytical thinking. If children can learn multiplication tables and the alphabet much more quickly and easily with this method, there seems to be little reason to quarrel with the idea, on the basis of knowledge available to us today.
And if adults stock up on facts necessary in their fields painlessly, it is all to the good. It is to be hoped that mere accumulation of facts is not going to be substituted for understanding, evaluation, interpretation or analysis of material. There is a general tendency in our time to value information per se more highly than the capacity to think.
Sleep-learning can aid greatly in time-saving, in increased efficiency, and in improving general knowledge. It will be up to the individual practitioners to use it wisely.
Warnings that sleep-therapy should not be employed as a substitute for medical or psycho-therapeutic treatment are included in most of the literature. Again it is up to the individual to follow these instructions for his own protection.
But it is also a responsibility of the manufacturers of recorded material aimed as psychological self-help to keep them within the limits approved by specialists in the field of psychotherapy. Just as hypnosis, in the hands of a careless or irresponsible practitioner who does not combine it with intelligent application of psycho-therapeutic methods where necessary, can be a dangerous technique, so sleep-therapy misapplied, can do a disservice to people seeking help.
Sleep-learning’s potential is staggering.
Increasing sales of sleep-learning equipment indicate that interest in the technique is growing constantly. The beneficial uses of sleep-study have barely begun. It is to be hoped that so important a scientific achievement will be given its rightful place among educational and learning techniques.