Categorize. To simulate Repeat
- Transfer
I will not clutter your brain with typical “ read books ”, “ solve math problems ” or “ train your memory ” tips . It's all damn obvious. I want to talk about two global thinking strategies and share a few practical methods that can enrich your thinking experience.
Classification is the most important learning aid. When you learn something, you create a map in your head and link various aspects of the subject under study to the names on this map.
Most often, this process is a background process, but try focusing on it and think about new ways to classify simple things. If you take books, for example, they can be grouped by the color of the cover, the birthplace of the author, and so on.
The ability to sort and label can lead you to a state of consciousness that will allow you to more effectively manage different concepts.
According to many scientists, the ability to model is one of the main features that make us human. We use it constantly, presenting meetings with friends or colleagues, or dreaming of a summer vacation.
Being a developer, a couple of years ago I noticed that I often start writing code without having a detailed program model in my head. I noticed this because my programs were very poorly structured, they were ugly and difficult to maintain.
This is a common mistake in software development, and I, of course, changed my attitude towards writing code. But what if we apply the ability to model not only to engineering processes, but to everything that surrounds us?
Let's say you want to go to the store. You have a shopping list, and the first thing you do when doing mental workouts is remembering the list. The next step is to model your way around the store, instead of remembering items from the list.
Here are some things I do. I sorted them in order "from fast to complex."
1. Do something with your non-leading hand . Even if you do not have time to exercise with a pencil and paper, you can still brush your teeth or eat food with chopsticks using your second hand.
2. Speak your thoughts . Do not be afraid, tell people what you really think. If you absolutely can not afford it, maybe you communicate with the wrong people?
3. Listen to different music . This can be tricky at first, but don't give up. Frequently, through difficult music lies the path to complex thoughts.
4. Write texts. I select two types of texts. The first gives way to your thoughts, it is comparable to the breakthrough of the dam. The second is a tool that helps create a map of thoughts, to answer some questions in a strict manner.
5. Break the word given to yourself . Your inner promises are often also the cradle in which stereotypes are born and grow stronger. Do not let them grow.
6. Learn to program . You don't have to become a professional developer, just learn the basics and solve some problems. However, there is a chance that you will never return to normal life. You know who to blame.
7. Learn the language. Or two. Start with your native language if you have problems with it. Your mental skills will grow at times when you penetrate into 2-3 languages from different groups.
8. Do not be perfectionists . I repeat it to myself every morning. It helps.
Even though I promised not to mention the obvious things, I break this promise. Here: free your imagination . Do not be shy! No, really, try to think in the spirit: what if the pigeons lived in swarms, and in each swarm there would be a pigeon queen who would live in the stratosphere in constant flight, dropping one egg per second, so that the egg would be warmed by air friction and would a new pigeon hatch without touching the ground? M?
Ps. If you have free time, or you are interested in AI, watch this lecture by Yosha Bach ( Joscha Bach). I wrote a post before I looked at the lecture myself, and despite the fact that the above tips, I think, are still useful, I think my view of things will change after Yoshi’s lecture, and new thoughts will appear. If you do not have a free hour, or you are not interested in AI, do not care, watch the video.
Categorize
Classification is the most important learning aid. When you learn something, you create a map in your head and link various aspects of the subject under study to the names on this map.
Most often, this process is a background process, but try focusing on it and think about new ways to classify simple things. If you take books, for example, they can be grouped by the color of the cover, the birthplace of the author, and so on.
The ability to sort and label can lead you to a state of consciousness that will allow you to more effectively manage different concepts.
Model
According to many scientists, the ability to model is one of the main features that make us human. We use it constantly, presenting meetings with friends or colleagues, or dreaming of a summer vacation.
Being a developer, a couple of years ago I noticed that I often start writing code without having a detailed program model in my head. I noticed this because my programs were very poorly structured, they were ugly and difficult to maintain.
This is a common mistake in software development, and I, of course, changed my attitude towards writing code. But what if we apply the ability to model not only to engineering processes, but to everything that surrounds us?
Let's say you want to go to the store. You have a shopping list, and the first thing you do when doing mental workouts is remembering the list. The next step is to model your way around the store, instead of remembering items from the list.
Practical methods
Here are some things I do. I sorted them in order "from fast to complex."
1. Do something with your non-leading hand . Even if you do not have time to exercise with a pencil and paper, you can still brush your teeth or eat food with chopsticks using your second hand.
2. Speak your thoughts . Do not be afraid, tell people what you really think. If you absolutely can not afford it, maybe you communicate with the wrong people?
3. Listen to different music . This can be tricky at first, but don't give up. Frequently, through difficult music lies the path to complex thoughts.
4. Write texts. I select two types of texts. The first gives way to your thoughts, it is comparable to the breakthrough of the dam. The second is a tool that helps create a map of thoughts, to answer some questions in a strict manner.
5. Break the word given to yourself . Your inner promises are often also the cradle in which stereotypes are born and grow stronger. Do not let them grow.
6. Learn to program . You don't have to become a professional developer, just learn the basics and solve some problems. However, there is a chance that you will never return to normal life. You know who to blame.
7. Learn the language. Or two. Start with your native language if you have problems with it. Your mental skills will grow at times when you penetrate into 2-3 languages from different groups.
8. Do not be perfectionists . I repeat it to myself every morning. It helps.
Imagination
Even though I promised not to mention the obvious things, I break this promise. Here: free your imagination . Do not be shy! No, really, try to think in the spirit: what if the pigeons lived in swarms, and in each swarm there would be a pigeon queen who would live in the stratosphere in constant flight, dropping one egg per second, so that the egg would be warmed by air friction and would a new pigeon hatch without touching the ground? M?
Ps. If you have free time, or you are interested in AI, watch this lecture by Yosha Bach ( Joscha Bach). I wrote a post before I looked at the lecture myself, and despite the fact that the above tips, I think, are still useful, I think my view of things will change after Yoshi’s lecture, and new thoughts will appear. If you do not have a free hour, or you are not interested in AI, do not care, watch the video.