Create a learning website based on this content: There are two major categories of relevant information. One are techniques - particular techniques or behaviors that improve the quality and speed of learning. The other is models - a sense for how and why a learning system works. For example, long-term memory, episodic memory and working memory system are models. Spaced repetition is an object/technique. Reinforcement (reward / punish) learned behavior is a model. Creating a reward or a success scoreboard is a technique. I’m going to start this by just listing out important models and techniques, as well as unimportant models and techniques (if there’s content I think isn’t worth focusing on - a continuous list with weights on importance would be perfect, but I’ll settle for a two-tiered system for now). Major Techniques: Spaced Repetition Memorable items must be repeated over several days Add visual memory. Have a conceptual and a visual answer to each card. Alternate the level of abstraction you process information at, from high level context to low level details and back Material as important as method. Ensure that the content being processed is sufficiently incremental and has the best 80/20 cut of the important information. Modify environment Eliminate distractions in the environment After reading material, look away from the material and recall it. Repeat for great effect. Deliberate Practice Focus on the parts of content that are difficult Increase intensity of practice / focus Structure behavior, at least on a weekly and daily basis Tutoring [Bloom’s Two Sigma] Get into a space with experts in what you’re looking to learn Pomodoro - small step towards goal, process oriented Set timer to 25 minutes, cut interruptions, focus hard for 25m, give reward Create abstractions / chunks by combining sets of ideas or concepts for working memory Test yourself regularly on content you’re looking to learn Metaphor / Analogy, Transferring mental models between fields Teach someone else the content, forcing you to frame information from different perspective [Feynman Technique] If procrastination, focus on process instead of outcome Get into a social environment that reinforces the right beliefs and values Major Models: Levels of abstraction - high level / low level representation of information (context vs content, bottom up learning vs. top down learning, Holistic vs. Sequential reasoning, Conceptual vs. Concrete) Long-term memory and working memory systems Working memory limited in scope Long term memory requires revisits to get content established Habits as the source of most behavior Cue + routine + reward + belief Learning by doing as more effective than learning in abstract - learning as active or passive Able to Recreate vs. Recall ability vs. Illusion of Competence Outcome oriented vs. Process oriented System 1 / System 2 Focused vs. Default Mode Thinking Minor Techniques: Let yourself fall into the diffuse mode while thinking about a problem (falling asleep, for example). Then wake up with an alarm or falling object and apply focused to the diffuse content. Alternate the way you process information, going from focused thinking to diffuse and back to focused Establish the smallest step towards working on a problem (pomodoro in general) Intentionally look to dream about what you’re studying Exercise regularly Concept Mapping Learn in different environments to avoid overfitting learning to environment Promise a reward after a work session Create a library of chunks / latticework of mental models Overlearning (Putting in a ton of work in batch) Interleaving content together to increase flexibility of understanding Analyze the cue of damaging habits and avoid / change them. Have a trigger-action plan when you catch yourself in the routine of a habit Create an emotional reward for new habitual behavior Plan quitting time on daily goals. Strongly isolate work from leisure Work on hard / disliked tasks as soon as you wake up, when you have willpower Mnemonics Memory Palace Technique (Link visual / spatial thinking with concepts) Metaphor / analogize the concepts being learned Meditation / Deep Breathing Thoroughly understand the basics of content, the building blocks Breaks to avoid drop in attention span over time Visualization Focus Tracking Urge Propagation 80/20 / Triage Growth Mindset Nutrition Define study schedule Goal Factor learning Zone Reading: Read the text of a book and listen to its audio at 2x, simultaneously. Incremental Writing Incremental Reading Learn in Public Minor Models: Understanding each step in a process vs. understanding the connection between steps Learning occurs during Sleep When you think of something you’d rather not do, your brain experiences pain that subsides once you actually start working on it. This leads to procrastination. Practice makes permanent While mind is relaxing in the background, progress is made on problems Attention Switching Costs / Impact of multitasking Hyperbolic Discounting, default focus on short term Memory has a visual / auditory component Memories are not fixed, but reconsolidated every time they’re recalled Memory techniques as skills in themselves requiring practice Energy level / Energy management Metalearning Curriculum: Metacognition - John Dunlosky Relatively dry but appropriately extensive and clear overview of the findings of the Metacognition literature. By the same author, this well cited and concise overview paper is excellent. Your Brain at Work - David Rock Extremely concrete body of experiments for improving cognition. I’ve summarized the suggested experiments here. Deep Work - Cal Newport A run through execution & focus techniques from the detailed to the level of life structure. My document for applying its lessons is here. Art of Learning - Josh Waitzskin This book was personally incredibly inspiring to me, describing the author’s path to mastery (world champion level) in both chess and tai chi push-hands. The principles described (Internalizing Fundamentals, Beginner’s Mind, Building Your Trigger, and more) are advanced and refreshing. Carl Shan’s Notes on Tim Ferriss’ Metalearning Podcast These notes describe a process for learning at a fairly high level. The DISSS framework (Deconstruction, Selection, Sequencing, Stakes) The CaFE framework (Compression (80/20), Frequency, Encoding) Samford Video Series: https://www.samford.edu/departments/academic-success-center/how-to-study 1/24 Notes Reading a textbook and then repeating Pomodoro Jayanth uses Complice Structures Pomodoros in coworking sessions Doing coworking sessions FocusMate 50 minute block with a stranger Convincing yourself why learning X is useful Checking the time frame is important Setting a timer to see how much each page takes is very motivating to know when you are Why is Elementary Statistics interesting the Jeremy Want to make algorithms that recommend things that align with human values It worked because Jeremy implemented a software library and could explain the algorithms in immense detail because he implemented Spaced repetition Alan If I’m learning once, I’m going to learn this forever → spaced repetition Forgetting curve: you try to remember things right before you forget things Jeremy does 15 mins / day applying concepts Mark Started with SuperMemo, used decks for all his courses in college Everything he’s interested in learning in the long term How do you know what goes as a flash card / atomic unit of a card Alan: Put everything that gets me in the way of my goals Everything it is in the deck, he knows that he will need it Put in a lot of time thinking about the situation about where he puts in the question of the card This might involve writing a word as a cue to the situation Remembering cards out of context Alan: visualizing things (seeing the world in his mind), remembering things while distracted, imagining where I would need the task ^Jeremy said that this is super smart! Because so many things are visual, sometimes falls into the trap of only remembering things that happen while doing spaced repetition Something that is similar about Learning via projects can be more Looking stuff on stack overflow is not the right way to work on projects You choose the project yourself Let’s say you want to learn Node.js, you make a website and are forced to maintain You might forget the details of the implementation but you might remember the Not all spaced repetition is created equal, not all moments are weighted equally Annoyance / fear of not remembering something Learning Materials - how do you find the right resources? Which book Jeremy’s experience: CLRS (classic) vs. Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures Using Python (much faster) Finding content that sufficiently incremental Jeremy had experiences of “banging his head” on texts he didn’t understand when it was not the right resources Incremental to the point that it could be tedious to do every step diligently What about YouTube?! - Minn Great for video editing (and conspiracy theory) Great for walking the steps—you can watch someone writing the code or putting the robot together The verbal description is different from the immersive experience Watching someone → apply it do their own practice For violin, listening to yourself is extremely helpful Pair programming Learning having a better frame of mind Can learning tools be used to have better mental health? It can be Writing a cue that would lead to rumination Do we need to hit rock bottom before changing habits or something? Analogies as a way of learning