Learn how to learn

Learn how to learn

In the "How to learn" this point, has always felt that they do not good enough, once wanted to learn the guitar, insisted on the two weeks to "finger too short, not suitable" end, and then want to learn mathematics, but eventually even opened the courage of the book did not, work a busy is to attend to these. So on Youtube to see Barbara Oakley learning how to learn, only to find their learning problems, a lot of harvest. If interested, it is recommended to watch the video directly, the explanation is very organized and vivid.

Barbara Oakley is a PhD in systems engineering, but there are also some studies on "learning", and there are corresponding courses in Coursera. There are also a few books, such as a mind for numbers:how-to-Excel at Math and science, where she makes a simple translation and summary of her share in Google.

Summary

(moderator) I remember citing Charlie Munger said that none of the people he knew read every day, and he described Buffett as a learning machine. So how do you become an effective learner?

Body

When I was young, I wanted to learn other languages, but college grants were not easy to get, and I was eager to learn a language, and then I thought of a way to learn a language and get some income, and that was to join the army. Then I did learn a language: Russian. Although the Russian environment is not good, but I like adventure and new perspective. I think of the engineers at West Point who are very good at solving problems and often think of what I can't think of. And then I thought, can I get to the same level as them? There are students who ask this question: How to change your brain. And I'm going to get to know the world's top professors. How do they make students better at engineering, math, chemistry? How do they learn from themselves? After contacting them, they found that they used to have metaphors and analogies. Next I want to share with you the key factors of learning.

We all know that the brain is very complex, so to simplify it, you can imagine that the brain works in two different modes. The first one is "focus" and the other is "divergence". We use a pinball machine to describe both of these states.

Suppose there's a pinball machine in the brain.

There is a trigger switch at the bottom and a lot of slots are densely arranged. For example, you already know the multiplication, and then you have to deal with a multiplication problem. When you are in the "focus" mode, you will use the existing models and spin around the "multiplication" slots, which is the combination of previous learning experiences to find answers. If the problem you want to solve is based on a new model, such as you already know the multiplication, but never contact the division operation, how to master the new model, then it is necessary to use the "divergence". When you are in a "Divergent" state, the distance between "slots" becomes larger, and you cannot solve the problem by limiting it to a point, but at least you can find a new angle to think about things. When you're dealing with a very difficult problem, don't force yourself to be "focused" for a long time, so it's confined to a narrow range. So we need to go into another mode, that is, "divergence" mode. Simply put, out of the current working environment, go out and take a shower, in short, let the brain out of the "focus" state. Let's give an example.

Salvador Dali is a famous surrealist painter in the 20th century, and his favorite thing to do is to lie in a chair, relax and relax while holding a key in his hand when confronted with a difficult problem. When relaxed enough to fall asleep, the key falls to the ground, and the sound of the collision with the floor wakes him up, and then proceeds to the "focus" mode with the idea of harvesting from the "diverging" state.

You may find this useful to the artist, so is it effective for the engineer as well? It is rumored that Edison had similar behavioral interests, but not the key, but the ball bearings.

When you're solving a problem, even if thousands of people have already solved it, for the first time in your case, you can try a similar approach.

When you're in the "focus" state, you don't take advantage of more associations, which is why it's so important to switch between the two states. Just like you can't eat as big as a fat man, the nervous system also takes a while to adapt to new ways of learning and thinking.

You might say, I have procrastination, so let's talk about procrastination. The cause of procrastination is that when you're faced with something you don't like, your brain's "pain Center" is activated. So when you look at a book you don't like, you can feel a dull ache, like a finger being smashed by a hammer, usually there are two ways: the first is to take about 20 minutes to fix it, and then the pain will slowly decrease and then disappear. But if you focus on other things that are more comfortable, like most people, you'll feel better right away.

Procrastination is also addictive in a way that is very harmful to your life. The most effective way is to use the "tomato working method", which usually sets 25 minutes to a "tomato time" and then closes everything else that will disturb you. Within 25 minutes, focus on the "focus" mode. Because you focus on your current tasks, rather than the pain of "I have to do it," it can be a lot easier to do. When the time comes, give yourself a reward, go out for a walk or surf the Internet and chat. One thing to note is, do not aim to accomplish the task, time is up, rest. It can help you cross the pain and into flow. There is not a sudden do too many "tomatoes", step by step, slowly adapt to the system.

There is also a point of learning that is related to sleep. Often people say sleep well before exams, in fact, sleep is important at all levels. When you are in a non-sleep state, the metabolites are generated between the cells, they are there like rubbish, and the more they accumulate, the more it affects your judgment. That's why logic gets messy when you work long hours. When you sleep, the cells shrink, and the rubbish is washed away, as if the room had been cleaned again.

According to the neurological findings, the study is divided into several short-term learning, sleep, a number of short-term learning, sleep, such a circulatory system, for the construction of neural networks is very helpful, this is one of the secrets of efficient learning.

People grow new neurons every day, and there are two ways to make them live and grow. One is to expose yourself to a new environment, which is why travel can be very helpful, and these new elements will allow new-born neurons to survive. There is also a way to let the newly-grown neurons survive, very simply, exercise. You don't need to be an Olympic athlete or a marathon runner, even a simple walk is very effective. But even a few days of exercise can have a greater effect, and it will increase the survival and growth of new neurons.

Next talk about working memory (working memory), working memory is temporarily remember some information, used to say there are 7 slots can be used, which is why you can remember the 7 digits of the phone number, but in fact, only about 4 slots can be used, so when you use working memory to remember something, It is conceivable that an octopus is in control of these slots and establishes a connection, which is why you cannot remember too many ideas at once. When you're working on multitasking, it's tantamount to taking one or more of the octopus tentacles out of only a few slots, which can make you a little more stupid. The divergence mode is more connected.

How to turn short-term memory into a long-term memory, the best way is to practice, the more training, the longer the neuron will grow, the deeper the tie.

If you do not practice, then these "bats" will take it away before the pattern forms a long-term memory, which is why sometimes you feel that you have understood a concept, then walked away, and after two days, the content has been taken away by the "bat", and then can't remember anything. So the best way is to have a certain gap of the repetition exercise (spaced repetition), such as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday practice.

Let's talk about Chunk. Suppose you want to spell a picture, if you do not understand the meaning of each piece, there will be no way to feel, like the middle of the circle, you can see it, it is a Chunk, but can not be associated with other Chunk, which is why the effect of rote will be very poor reason.

When you are studying a subject, you are actually creating a Chunk group that is associated with other Chunks, which is also the source of great creativity. At this time will often get some fragmented Chunks, if all learned, will form a complete picture, even if a few of the few pieces.

But if you do not repeat the practice, and the deep mastery of Chunks, but also can put Chunks together, but is vague, and it is difficult to spell the map.

Different fields of Chunks, it is possible to grow similar, so you can learn from the original Chunk to study the new Chunk. For example, if you are a physicist, it will be easier to learn economics, because some of these Chunks are very similar.

Finally give you some advice on learning:

Testing is necessary and important. Test yourself on everything, all the time. The same time is used for testing and learning, the former will make you gain more. Using cards (flashcards), cards are not designed to learn language, cards are a universal means of learning, poets will use it to memorize verses, in order to more strongly feel the impact of poetry.

Remember to do "homework", do not only do once, choose the focus of the more than a few times, even if only in the brain once, make sure that you really mastered, so you get a group of Chunks.

The most effective way is to "think back", especially when you are solving difficult problems. When you're reading an article, try to get out of the book and think about whether you can remember the key points, which is a great help to understand the content, better than repeated reading and mind mapping effect.

Another simple trick is to explain to others what you understand, and assume that the other person is just a 10-year-old (Feynman learning method). If you can find a simple and clear description, you will be able to understand it more deeply. You can even put yourself in a situation where the problem occurs.

When you are in focus mode, there is a feeling of "I have mastered", which can be communicated with other people in the diffuse mode, sometimes helping you to correct the mistakes.

Finally, we all say to follow your passion, but the enthusiasm is just to make you good at things to become better, and some things take a long time to be good, so not only to follow your passion, but also to expand your enthusiasm, and then the quality of life will be greatly improved.

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Learn how to learn