Learning how to learn

I recently took a course online named: “Learning how to learn”. As a final test I need to prove what I learn teaching others three major ideas covered in that course and this is my contribution:

Mind Modes

One of the first things the course teaches is that are two types of thinking: the focused mind and the diffused mind.

In the first mode the mind is concentrated in a task or activity and in the second the mind is relaxed, at peace.

You may thing that the focused mode is the best one to study and, consequently, to learn but you are half mistaken. Yes the focused mode is great to study or to really inspect something but is the alternation between the two mind modes or ways of thinking the best path to an effective learning.

The first step in learn is to focus your attention in the subject you want to learn, no you are not a super hero if you can do several things at the same time, in fact you only are getting small parts of the thing you want to learn or maybe not a part at all. You need pay attention!

But the process to learn is based in the diffused mode: here you construct the long lasting ideas, concepts and grasp the understanding of the object of learning.

Remember what happened to Archimedes when he discovers the principle with his name:

The Roman Emperor has Archimedes about a gift he receives, some tales says is a crow others a scepter, at the end the Emperor was to know is the object was pure gold or not. At first Archimedes, as others scientist of his time, don’t put much effort in the matter, but that displeases the Emperor which arrest the scientist and torture him. Then Archimedes became obsessed to find the answer, for obvious reasons, he didn’t eat, barely sleep, he was in full focused mode to the task!!!...but can’t find the answer and the time frame the Emperor give him was nearly over.

The wife of Archimedes was worried, again obviously, she didn’t want her husband tortured again but Archimedes was now an older man and the effort can make him ill or worse. She convince him to go to the baths, communal houses with pools of water to bath, she argue he need relaxation but the smell was a more appealing one.

He go to the bath house, some say he surrender to the idea he will not find the answer, but with his mind at easy, in diffuse mode, he discover some amazing thru: The water in the pool gets out when he gets in. His mind help him to find the answer, yes everyone knows two bodies can have the same space, maybe in that time not everyone, well maybe neither now, moreover almost all can see the water coming out of a pool but not everyone knows is exactly the same volume that the body entering the pool.

Even if the tale has some historical errors, like the object, this not matter much because the material, in this case gold, is the important one. Archimedes proves the object was not gold.

Memory Capacity

The memory is a big part of the learning process but is not the central one. As the mind we have two principal types of memory: Short term memory and long term memory. The first one is referred in the online course as the working memory.

I discover some papers online that mention a third kind of memory: Sensory memory. But in here we are going to discuss about the Working and the Long term memory.

The easy way to understand the types of memories is comparing with something more familiar or at least more east to imagine:

In the case of the working memory imagine a work table with four sits: A person can sit un one spot an “work”, then another came and takes another sit, if three more persons came to work one of them must stand by to get a sit. Similar is the working memory, it only can have certain number of things at the same time, when a new one came need to release space to work with it. Again imagine the table with people working they can have a record of his work; this translates in passing the object of the work to the long term memory.

The long term memory is then as a storehouse, or a hard drive for the young, in there you can storage all the information, concepts, ideas or work you do and if needed retrieve it.

And here is a question: If I have an excellent memory then I’m smart? I can learn or know all?

Well an excellent memory is a good first step in learning as I write before but you need to understand the concepts you have in the long term memory, how to use it in solving problems or simply in a conversation, moreover if you can teach others about it then with some certainty degree you really know THAT concept in THAT situation.

Here is another question: How I improve my memory?

Well if you count I wrote several times the types of memory we have: working memory and long term memory. Yes repetition is a good way to remember something but a lot in short time is not very good is a lot better use something called “spaced repetition”. 

This is an example: You study Monday and Tuesday takes a rest Wednesday again Tuesday rest Friday Saturday and Sunday (this are good to a party time!) and then start over Monday.

Other good way of remember things is imagine it: If you want to tell others the history about Archimedes I wrote before try to imagine all the things: The Emperor wearing the crown or holding the scepter; Archimedes arrested and tortured, they burn his hands, his precious hands; his smell, after days of working, entering the pool and the water coming out of it; then he leaves the bath house, naked, screaming “EUREKA!, EUREKA!” (I did it) and arrested again for nudity!!

The Art of Procrastinate

  No you are not mistaken, you really feel “pain” when you know you need to work or study or make homework. This, somehow, is wired in the brain: Is better do something else. And yes again procrastinate is an art, a modern art, because you check email, facebook, whatsapp or worst you play with the xbox, the smartphone, the “samarthTV” and do nothing!

One method to avoid this is the “pomodoro technique”, in short: You need to work for 25 min uninterrupted then relax 5 min, do this 2 more times because in the for time you earn a 30 min relax time!!

In this way the mind can jump from a focused 25 minutes to a 5 diffuse minutes. As I previously wrote the alternation in minds helps to effectively learn. Moreover this method helps to improve the time management.

Final Thoughts

  Some advice to learn:

·         Eat well, you spend a lot of energy learning.

·         Sleep is very important, not only to relax, again for the expense of energy, because the brain recovers, clean the toxins it accumulates during the day.

·         Physical exercises, is a great way to enter the diffuse mode.

·         Remember the space repetition.

·         No matter which technique you uses to avoid procrastinate  you need to BELIVE it works and then it will.

·         Have fun learning!!