learning… haskell math how generators work in python french how to draw an instrument
“The marvel is not that it dances well, but that it dances at all”
- S. Johnson
I think of learning the same way: what’s impressive is not so much how good we are at learning, but that we can do it at all!
Find that tweet about learning math
“The first analogy that came to my mind is of immersing the nut in some softening liquid, and why not simply water? From time to time you rub so the liquid penetrates better, and otherwise you let time pass. The shell becomes more flexible through weeks and months—when the time is ripe, hand pressure is enough, the shell opens like a perfectly ripened avocado!”
- A. Grothendieck
“There is a subtle perspective about improvement and about better performance that can alter how you approach the task of changing yourself. Namely, people who perform better can be viewed as actually doing a different task, rather than doing the same task better.”
- The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
“If you’re learning something, solving a problem, or developing a skill, imagine in detail what a more skilled practitioner does, or what added knowledge, understanding, and previous experience the expert would bring to the task. In other words, describe the different task that an expert would be doing compared to what you are currently doing in undertaking your task. Instead of thinking that you are going to do something that is harder–requiring more concentration and effort–think in terms of what kind of knowledge or skill or strategy would make the task an easier one.”
- The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
“If you can’t solve a problem, then there is an easier problem you can’t solve: find it.”
- G. Polya
“Great scientists, creative thinkers, and problem solvers do not solve hard problems head-on. When they are faced with a daunting question, they immediately and prudently admit defeat. They realize there is no sense in wasting energy vainly grappling with complexity when, instead, they can productively grapple with simpler cases that will teach them how to deal with the complexity to come.”
- The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
virtuosity in gymnastics: “performing the common uncommonly well”
Make sure you understand the basics.
“Learning enters your brain through the tips of your fingers.”
- A. O’Donnell
“the very act of creating questions, for yourself, is a profound step toward understanding–even if the questions are neither asked nor answered”
“basic questions: the questions to which you may feel embarrassed about not already knowing the answers”
If you were responsible for writing the test, what questions would you ask?
“The act of retrieving learning from memory has two profound benefits. One, it tells you what you know and don’t know, and therefore where to focus further study to improve the areas where you’re weak. Two, recalling what you have learned causes your brain to reconsolidate the memory, which strengthens its connections to what you already know and makes it easier for you to recall in the future. In effect, retrieval–testing–interrupts forgetting.”
- Make it Stick
“Difficulties that elicit more effort and that slow down learning–spacing, interleaving, mixing up practice, and others–will more than compensate for their inconvenience by making the learning stronger, more precise, and more enduring.”
- Am I being nice?
- Relax. Let the walnut soften.
- Should I downshift?
- Am I ready to learn this? Should I go learn something easier first?
- Could I make this easier?
- Look at a simpler cases
- Review the basics
- Get a new sheet of paper
- Could I make this harder?
- Move your fingers
- Dredge things up from memory
- Write the test
- Work on a challenging task that forces you to deal with random, unpredictable challenges, aka a project :)
the 5 elements of effective thinking make it stick the practicing mind how to solve it