Easy question, right? Predictable answer: Strong yes! True.

But do you understand how these emotional conditions and traumas affect our capabilities to learn under certain circumstances?

First, let's recapitulate one big learning from this course: collective learning and networks are our main basis of learning and they are connected to the main communities of practices that we're part of our lives and so are a relevant part of what we learn and are.

It seems more clear that learning is a collective practice when we talk about interpersonal skills, right?

According to Dr. Denice Hood we have 7 vectors of student development which are: (a) developing competences; (b) managing emotions; (c) moving through autonomy toward independence; (d) developing mature interpersonal relationships; (e) establishing identity; (f) developing purpose; and (g) developing integrity.

In terms of (a) developing competencies we can develop (a.1) intellectually - as mastering contents, skills such as analyze and synthesize; (a.2) physically/manually - as athletic and artistic product building; and (a.3) interpersonally - as communicating, influencing, listening and cooperating.

Relating to (a.3) interpersonal competencies in the (a) domain of competencies human beings can develop I would like to bring a remarkable passage wroten by Daniel Goleman in the book ''Emotional Intelligence'' to connect it to the stage of emotional conditions and traumas: (https://www.amazon.com.br/Emotional-Intelligence-Daniel-P-Goleman/dp/055338371X/ref=asc_df_055338371X/?tag=googleshopp00-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=379707111052&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4423973859423445310&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1001566&hvtargid=pla-395617940859&psc=1):

''These vivid, terrifying moments, neuroscientists now say, become memories emblazoned in the emotional circuitry. The symptoms are, in effect, signs of an overaroused amygdala impelling the vivid memories of a traumatic moment to continue to intrude on awareness. As such, the traumatic memories become mental hair triggers, ready to sound an alarm at the least hint that the dread moment is about to happen once again. This hair-trigger phenomenon is a hallmark of emotional trauma of all kinds (...)''.

Every human being who suffered any experience like those mentioned above will probably feel too vulnerable to connect with others building trust and necessarily will face some difficulties developing interpersonal competencies and so its own system of learning.

Finally, as an example, Daniel Goleman shares some information about Nazi death camps and it's survivors:

''The imprint of horror in memory—and the resulting hypervigilance—can last a lifetime, as a study of Holocaust survivors found. Close to fifty years after they had endured semistarvation, the slaughter of their loved ones, and constant terror in Nazi death camps, the haunting memories were still alive. A third said they felt generally fearful. Nearly three quarters said they still became anxious at reminders of the Nazi persecution, such as the sight of a uniform, a knock at the door, dogs barking, or smoke rising from a chimney. About 60 percent said they thought about the Holocaust almost daily, even after a half-century; of those with active symptoms, as many as eight in ten still suffered from repeated nightmares.”

How expect someone who suffered from those episodes to trust and then improve their learning systems? It's definitely a long journey.