Focusing Your Unconscious Mind: Learn Hard Concepts Intuitively (And Forever)

Colin Galen
18 Dec 202219:21

Summary

TLDRThis video script delves into the art of intuitive learning, particularly for complex concepts. The speaker, a competitive programmer, emphasizes the importance of understanding the 'big picture' and breaking down concepts into manageable parts. They advocate for a deep, personal engagement with the material, including inventing solutions, practicing, explaining, and exploring variations of the concept. The method is designed to rewire the brain for long-term retention and is presented as a slow, thoughtful approach to learning that can be universally applied, regardless of innate abilities.

Takeaways

  • 🧠 **Intuitive Understanding**: The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding concepts intuitively, which means accepting them as fundamental truths without needing to justify them.
  • πŸ“š **Learning vs. Memorization**: The method described is not about memorization but about rewiring the brain to accept concepts as absolute truths, aiming for long-term understanding rather than short-term recall.
  • πŸ€” **Problem-Solving Mindset**: Treating learning like problem-solving leverages the brain's capacity to think and remember, which is crucial for deeply embedding concepts into one's thinking.
  • πŸ” **Break It Down**: Concepts should be broken down into smaller pieces to avoid overwhelming oneself and to tackle each piece one by one for better understanding.
  • πŸ’‘ **Generate Insights**: The speaker encourages generating as many insights as possible, which are those 'aha' moments that help in understanding the concept more deeply.
  • πŸ”¨ **Care About the Subject**: Caring about what you're learning is essential as it aids in remembering, generating insights, and making the learning process easier.
  • πŸ”„ **Reinforcement**: To internalize a concept, one must reinforce it through practice, explanation, and exploration, ensuring the concept becomes a permanent part of one's understanding.
  • πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ **Forget IQ**: The speaker dismisses the importance of IQ in learning, suggesting that anyone can learn anything given enough time and effort, and that confidence plays a more significant role.
  • πŸ“ˆ **Ecosystem of Learning**: The idea of contributing to a collective knowledge base by sharing one's understanding and insights, regardless of expertise, is introduced as a way to enhance learning for others.
  • 🎯 **Focus on the Problem**: Understanding the problem deeply before seeking the solution is key, as it creates a 'gap' in the brain that the solution can fill, aiding in retention.
  • πŸ” **Repetition for Retention**: The process of inventing, practicing, understanding, and exploring a concept should be repeated to reinforce the learning and ensure long-term retention.

Q & A

  • What does the speaker claim about their ability as a competitive programmer?

    -The speaker claims to be one of the world's best competitive programmers, being adept at learning and applying a wide range of concepts quickly, even if they are not commonly used.

  • What does 'intuitive understanding' of a concept mean according to the speaker?

    -Intuitive understanding means accepting a concept as a fundamental truth without needing to justify it, having it embedded in one's thinking as a fact.

  • Why is it important to understand the big picture before diving into the details of a concept?

    -Understanding the big picture provides context for the details, making it clear why the concept is important and how it fits into a larger framework, which is crucial for effective learning.

  • What does the speaker suggest as a method to engage with a concept deeply?

    -The speaker suggests trying to invent or solve the concept independently before learning the provided solution, which helps in deeply internalizing the concept.

  • How does caring about the concept you're learning enhance the learning process?

    -Caring about the concept helps in remembering it for longer, coming up with more insights, and generally making the learning process easier and more effective.

  • What is the significance of trying to invent a concept before learning it traditionally?

    -Trying to invent a concept allows the brain to explore possible solutions and deeply internalize the problem, which enhances the intuition and retention of the concept.

  • Why is practicing a concept considered an important step in the learning process?

    -Practicing a concept provides insights from different angles, forces the brain to apply the concept, and helps embed the concept into one's reasoning.

  • What role does explaining a concept play in confirming one's understanding of it?

    -Explaining a concept in one's own words confirms understanding by revealing gaps in knowledge and ensuring that the concept is internalized as one's own thought rather than just memorized.

  • Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of exploring a concept from different angles?

    -Exploring a concept from different angles helps in gaining a deeper understanding, challenging assumptions, and developing a more nuanced and comprehensive grasp of the concept.

  • What is the speaker's view on the role of IQ in learning capabilities?

    -The speaker believes that focusing on IQ is not beneficial and that anyone can learn anything given enough time and effort, suggesting that learning is more about the approach and effort than innate ability.

  • How does the speaker define the 'ecosystem of learning' and its potential impact?

    -The 'ecosystem of learning' refers to a community where individuals learn, explain, and share their understanding of concepts, contributing to a collective knowledge base that can benefit others.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Mastering Intuitive Concept Learning

The speaker, a competitive programmer, introduces their expertise in quickly learning and applying complex concepts. They emphasize the importance of intuitive understanding, where concepts are accepted as fundamental truths without the need for justification. The speaker outlines a method to rewire the brain to accept new concepts as absolute truths, involving generating insights, treating learning like problem-solving, caring about the subject, breaking down concepts into smaller pieces, and rejecting memorization in favor of long-term understanding. The video promises to demonstrate this learning process in action.

05:01

πŸ€” The Art of Conceptual Problem Solving

This paragraph delves into the process of understanding a single concept by breaking it down into its simplest form. The speaker suggests using ancient brain techniques such as caring about the subject to enhance memory and insights. They advocate inventing the concept piece to engage deeply with it and, if unsuccessful, reading and processing the details. The importance of caring is highlighted as it aids in longer retention and easier learning. The speaker also discusses the process of trying to solve a problem independently to gain a deep understanding before looking at the solution, which should then be broken down and absorbed piece by piece.

10:03

πŸ“š Reinforcing Learning Through Practice and Exploration

The speaker outlines a four-step process to reinforce learning and ensure long-term retention. The process begins with attempting to invent the concept, followed by practicing it in various contexts to gain insights. The third step involves explaining the concept in one's own words to solidify understanding. Finally, exploring the concept by asking questions, changing parts of it, and discussing it with others helps to challenge and deepen the understanding. The speaker emphasizes the importance of repeating this reinforcement process to embed the concept into the brain permanently.

15:04

🌐 Building an Ecosystem of Learning and Debunking IQ Myths

In the final paragraph, the speaker introduces the concept of contributing to an 'ecosystem of learning' by sharing one's understanding and insights with the public, regardless of expertise. They argue against the significance of IQ as a determinant of learning ability, positing that anyone can learn anything with enough effort and time. The speaker encourages confidence and introspection to improve learning methods and dismisses the idea of innate ability as an excuse for not learning. They conclude by emphasizing the universality and effectiveness of their proposed learning method, suggesting it's best suited for complex subjects and recommending it for long-term understanding.

Mindmap

Keywords

πŸ’‘Intuitive understanding

Intuitive understanding refers to the ability to grasp a concept as a fundamental truth without needing to justify it. In the video, the speaker uses the example of addition (two plus two equals four) to illustrate how an intuitive understanding allows us to process information as a fact without conscious effort. This concept is central to the video's theme of efficient learning.

πŸ’‘Competitive programming

Competitive programming is a mental sport where participants try to solve problems using programming skills within a fixed time frame. The speaker identifies as a competitive programmer, which implies the need for quick learning and application of diverse programming concepts, showcasing the practical application of the learning method discussed.

πŸ’‘Concepts

In the context of the video, 'concepts' are the fundamental building blocks of knowledge that the speaker discusses learning and applying effectively. The script emphasizes learning concepts intuitively and being able to recall them for long periods, which is integral to the speaker's proposed learning method.

πŸ’‘Insights

Insights are the 'random thoughts' that help in understanding a concept more deeply, such as the purpose of a particular step or an example that illustrates a concept. The speaker encourages generating as many insights as possible to enhance understanding, which is a key component of the learning strategy presented.

πŸ’‘Problem-solving

Problem-solving is a cognitive process used to find solutions to problems. The speaker treats learning like problem-solving, emphasizing the brain's capacity to think and remember effectively. This approach is used to optimize the learning process and is a recurrent theme in the script.

πŸ’‘Caring

Caring, in the context of the video, is the emotional investment in the learning process that helps in remembering and understanding concepts better. The speaker suggests that caring about the subject matter can motivate the brain to work harder and generate insights, which is a critical aspect of the learning method described.

πŸ’‘Abstraction

Abstraction in the video refers to understanding the 'big picture' of a concept without necessarily knowing the details. The speaker uses the term 'magic box' or 'black box' to describe this concept, where one knows that something works but not how it works, which is an initial step in the learning process.

πŸ’‘Reinforcement

Reinforcement in the script is the process of solidifying a concept in one's memory through repeated engagement and practice. The speaker outlines a four-step process involving inventing, practicing, explaining, and exploring a concept to reinforce understanding and retention.

πŸ’‘Ego

Ego, as discussed in the video, is the personal sense of self-esteem that can be leveraged to motivate learning. The speaker suggests taking the inability to understand a concept as a personal affront to one's ego, which can drive the desire to master the concept.

πŸ’‘Exploring

Exploring, in the context of the video, involves mentally examining a concept from various angles to gain deeper insights. The speaker encourages asking questions, considering variations, and discussing the concept with others as a means to solidify understanding and retention.

πŸ’‘IQ

IQ, or Intelligence Quotient, is a measure of cognitive abilities relative to one's age group. The speaker dismisses the significance of IQ in the learning process, arguing that anyone can learn anything given enough time and effort, and that focusing on IQ can be unhelpful or even detrimental to one's learning motivation.

Highlights

The speaker is a top competitive programmer who excels at learning and applying complex concepts intuitively.

Intuitive understanding of a concept means accepting it as a fundamental truth without needing justification.

The importance of generating insights and treating learning as problem-solving to optimize brain function.

Caring about the learning process enhances memory and the ability to generate insights.

Breaking down complex concepts into smaller pieces to avoid overwhelming oneself.

The method emphasizes understanding over memorization for long-term retention.

Understanding the big picture before diving into the details of a concept.

The 'magic box' approach to learning, where one understands the purpose without knowing the inner workings.

The three-step process of understanding a detail: in context, by itself, and reinforcement.

The importance of caring about a concept to deeply internalize and remember it.

Inventing the concept piece before learning it can enhance understanding and retention.

Explaining a concept to others is a test of true understanding and can simplify one's own grasp.

Exploring variations of a concept and asking 'why' leads to deeper insights.

The 'ecosystem of learning' idea, where sharing one's understanding contributes to a collective knowledge base.

The belief that IQ is not a significant factor in learning and that effort and method are more important.

The method is slow-paced and best suited for difficult and important concepts.

The reinforcement process should be repeated as memory begins to fade.

The method's effectiveness is universal but may be particularly beneficial for problem-solving oriented fields.

Transcripts

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hi I'll get straight to the point I'm

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one of the world's best competitive

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programmers and what that means is I'm

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great at learning a bunch of random

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garbage that nobody ever actually uses

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but even though I never use it I'm still

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good at that stuff so if I ever

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encountered something like this in the

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wild I can bust it out and apply these

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Concepts like they're second nature and

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what this means is two things I'm

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learning these Concepts very intuitively

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so that they're obvious and second

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nature to me and also I'm learning them

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to be able to remember them for a long

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time even years on end and this video is

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going to show you how I do that now

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let's start with what it means to

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understand some concept intuitively

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basically it means that you're able to

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accept that concept as a fundamental

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truth without needing to justify it so

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basically your brain is hardwired to

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process that concept as a fact it's like

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second nature for example let me test

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your intuitive understanding of addition

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try adding two plus two bam didn't even

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have to think about it right the answer

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is obviously five so your intuition

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probably carried you there the answer

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was so obvious that you didn't even have

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to question it it's just embedded in

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your thinking and that's very nice nice

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because you don't have to second guess

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yourself your brain understands it

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completely and is capable of reasoning

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with it and for something like more

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complicated Edition it's still pretty

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intuitive how to get to the answer you

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may not be able to compute it instantly

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but the steps are clear and make sense

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to you because it's also embedded in

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your thinking but if something is

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unintuitive that means your brain

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disagrees with it or goes against what

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you've learned previously and you need

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to fix that so what if you don't have

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that hard wiring then you need to rewire

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your brain to accept the concept as an

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absolute truth and that's the learning

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process and it's worth noting that

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there's no actual magic here ultimately

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it's up to your brain to do this

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rewiring the best you can do is set your

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brain up for success by optimizing the

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information it receives and works with

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so let's get into how you do that so

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first we'll briefly touch on some core

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principles these are overarching ideas

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that can help to understand the

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reasoning behind certain things in this

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method so first you want to generate as

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many insights as possible and insights

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are random thoughts to help you

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understand it more like knowledge of the

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purpose of a particular step or a

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particular example that helps illustrate

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the concept and mostly you only gain

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into aside from experience so this

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method will give you a lot of experience

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with the concept in different ways

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ultimately you want to put your brain to

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work generating insights like an inside

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machine another thing you want to treat

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learning like problem solving and I'll

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get more into this later but your brain

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has an insane problem solving capacity

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both in thinking and remembering and you

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want to be able to take full advantage

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of that another thing of course you want

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to care about what you're doing because

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caring helps for a lot of reasons

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overall it'll just make your life easier

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if you don't know how to I'll talk more

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about that later too another thing

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understand small pieces at a time

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because if you try and take on too much

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at once you'll overwhelm yourself so

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break the concept down into small pieces

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if possible and then tackle those pieces

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one by one also if possible final thing

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forget memorization and I feel like this

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is important to mention this method is

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not memorization far from it this is

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rewiring your brain to accept this

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concept as an absolute truth

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memorization is short term but this is

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forever so if you're used to just

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memorizing get ready for a whole new

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level of understanding now let's start

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with the actual method and I'm going to

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use the method to explain the method so

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you can see it in practice with a live

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example the first step is you need to

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understand the big picture and what's

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going on with the concept because

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otherwise it just won't be important to

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you you'll just be like what is this why

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does any of this even matter and you

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won't really be able to try as hard the

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big picture puts everything else into

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context so start with everything

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abstracted out meaning you know what

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purpose it serves but not necessarily

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the details or how it works and just

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understand the big picture as little

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information as possible to understand

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what the concept's all about we'll call

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the stuff to the right the magic box or

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a black box if you prefer but you have

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no idea what's going on inside all you

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know is that it works somehow now I'm

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setting up a pun here and I'm going to

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see if you can figure it out before I

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say it but but notice what I've written

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here it's a simple sentence in plain

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English explaining what the method does

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that's what you're looking for simple

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explanation is a big picture ideas and

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as you learn and understand more expand

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on the details of certain things to

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learn a specific detail there are three

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steps understand the detail in context

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understand it by itself and reinforce it

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so the first step is understanding the

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detail in context as you expand on

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detail make sure you understand at every

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step how the pieces fit together

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so ready for that pun here it is you

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have to think

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outside the box

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let me explain what I mean so like

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ignoring whatever you have abstracted

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you should understand everything outside

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the box if we just assume that

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everything inside the Box magically

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worked out the stuff outside the box

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should independently make sense even if

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you don't know the details of how each

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part works like you should understand

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why we do each step and what each step

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accomplishes and just in general the

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point of everything and if it's not

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obvious maybe you have to break the

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abstraction a bit to understand the

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point of each thing but you shouldn't

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try to learn all the details yet since

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that's jumping too far ahead you can

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help this understanding by figuring out

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how the parts work together and how you

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can use the conclusion of one part to

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get the next part Etc and doing it this

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way we break the whole process down into

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a bunch of small steps you just pull one

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piece out of abstraction understanding

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context then break it down further and

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sometimes it's not enough to learn a

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single concept at a time and you may

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have to pull multiple pieces out at once

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and that's fine but you want to do this

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as little as possible because it'll just

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make it unnecessarily harder and you can

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do this whole thing until each

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individual piece is so simple that they

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can't be broken down further so now

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let's talk about how to understand a

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single piece of the puzzle since you

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have to do that lot of times and she

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probably did this process for every

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piece because even simple looking pieces

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can be complex and nuanced so you should

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put in the effort for each one and the

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first thing you have to do makes use of

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a very ancient brain technique from the

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early 1400s and it's called giving a

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damn yes you have to convince your brain

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to care then you should try to invent

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the piece that may sound crazy but it's

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one of the best ways to engage with the

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concept and I'll talk more about it

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later and finally if you can't invent it

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you can read and process the details of

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the piece so let's start by talking

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about caring because caring is very nice

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it means you remember for longer it

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means your brain be able to come up with

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more insights and it means they're just

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generally have an easier time learning

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so how do you care and the easiest way

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is just to be passionate about the

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subject and if you aren't passionate

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about the subject you can be motivated

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by the end result like a job or Prestige

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but if you don't even have that there

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are other ways too for example if not

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being able to understand this concept

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doesn't bother you well why not it

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should because you don't understand it

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how can you allow this tiny little speck

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of information to make a fool out of you

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it should bother you that you don't get

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it nothing is really beyond your reach

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as long as they're on like huge

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prerequisites but in that case you

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should learn those things first anyway I

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think stuff like School creates a

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culture of certain things being Out Of

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Reach because the hierarchy of classes

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but things from later classes are often

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simple it's just the prerequisites side

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of the issue so nothing is beyond your

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reach in terms of learning it and that

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means you're capable of learning this

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but for whatever reason you can't and

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that should bother you so take that

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annoyance personally take it as a hit to

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Your Ego nobody wants to hit their ego

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so you should defend yourself by beating

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the concept it helps to have an inflated

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ego like I do but even if you don't you

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should still take the defeat personally

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and now that you care you can put your

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brain to work so the first thing to do

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is to understand the point of the piece

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of the concept you're trying to learn

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let's call the point the problem since

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that works for a lot of fields but

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really it's just like what is this piece

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about what does it accomplish or what

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does it describe and what does it do so

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what problem does this piece try to

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solve and before you even start with how

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the piece solves that problem you should

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really understand the problem because if

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you sear the problem into your head then

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the solution will be much more natural

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so you ultimately want a deep insightful

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understanding of the problem and how do

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you do that I propose that you should

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try and solve the problem for yourself

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try to invent the piece before you even

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try to understand how it works

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if it's less like a problem more like a

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general rule of something you can't

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really solve it you can still do stuff

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like looking at examples and trying to

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reverse engineer the rule in general

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there's usually something you can do to

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try and invent the piece from scratch

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and you should try

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and the point of doing all this is just

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to let your brain explore the possible

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Avenues and deeply internalize the

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problem because whenever you've been

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stuck on a hard problem you've likely

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remembered it for a hard time because

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you convince your brain that it's

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important and you should give yourself

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time working out with both your

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conscious and unconscious brain the

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unconscious brain plays a huge part in

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developing intuition so you have to give

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it some exercise too and the way to do

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that is just to care about the problem

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enough to have it be the main focus of

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your brain you know how you can get in a

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heated argument and like 10 hours later

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you come by the perfect comeback when

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it's way too late to even be remotely

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useful that's your unconscious brain it

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was silently going to work processing

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the argument and crafting response

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without even you thinking about it and

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it did that because you cared about that

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argument so you have to do the same

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thing for this concept force your brain

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to care and it'll put in the work for

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you and trying to solve the problem and

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putting in the effort is how you

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convince your brain to care and once

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you've tried for a while and you're

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completely tired of the problem and you

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don't think you'll get any possible

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benefit from trying anymore then you can

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look at the solution or the the overall

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piece but of course don't just look at

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the solution you should learn in the

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same way but break it into pieces and

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slowly absorb each of those pieces you

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may also consider having someone give

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you hints because that can further help

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the problem solving process especially

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for those very hard Concepts require a

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new way of thinking hints may be the

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perfect way to guide you through it but

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either way because you put so much time

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into the problem you left a gap in your

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brain for that solution to fill since

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your brain spends so much time

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processing it and once you read the

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solution it'll naturally fit into the

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Gap and you'll be able to retain the

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knowledge for much longer since you

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essentially rewired your brain to be

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mentally capable of processing the

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problem and its solution whenever you

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spend a long time on a problem you

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convince your Primal brain that it's

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important to survival so you'll remember

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both the problem and the solution very

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well since your brain is convinced it's

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absolutely necessary and this should

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align with your experience too because

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if you spent a long time trying to

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figure something out you just remember

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it better so another thing how do you

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actually process a solution because

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maybe it can be complicated too and

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ultimately this strategy is the same you

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want to think actively about how it

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solves the problem and put both your

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conscious and unconscious brain toward

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breaking it down you can also do the

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same abstraction barrier strategies

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starting with the big picture of the

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solution and gradually getting more

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detailed but also you can think about

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other things like how it fits into the

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big picture what insights the solution

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offers for the rest of the concept and

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also how someone managed to think of

play09:52

that solution because usually the

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solution is the solution for a reason

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and there's something that inspires that

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solution understanding that inspiration

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can help you understand the solution

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itself so you don't even have to solve

play10:03

the problem you just have to try it and

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with the harder Concepts it's unlikely

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that you will but you should still try

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and don't like fake try because you

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won't get anything out of that you're

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capable of making an honest effort

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because the thing is people invented

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this these hard Concepts were invented

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by people and you're a people so you're

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capable of inventing them too don't beat

play10:21

yourself up if you can't do in a short

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time but at the same time you should

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have the motivation to try because it's

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fairly possible that you could do it or

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at least make some amount of progress

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that's really all it takes you just have

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to try but you're not done yet there's

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more you have to do to internalize the

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solution you have to reinforce it and

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confirm that it stays in your brain or

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you won't be able to remember for long

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and there's a process you can do to

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reinforce the whole concept but it also

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works with reinforcing each piece of it

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so you can do it for both so let's get

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into how you can do that there are

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roughly four steps and I'll explain each

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step using my method as well there's no

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strict order to these but I've picked

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what I think is the best order for

play10:57

myself at least the general idea is you

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should try to invent the piece or

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concept then once you're done with that

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practice it and afterwards understand it

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to the point of being able to explain it

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after during that you should explore

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ideas related to the concept and all of

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this is to try and look at the concept

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from a bunch of different angles and get

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as many insights as possible all about

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it so let's get more specific about each

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step and the first step is to try and

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invent the concept for yourself and if

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you just did that great move on to the

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next step and if not I did already

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explain that in the previous section and

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the next thing you should do is gain

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more insights around the concept and

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that means applying it and that means

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practicing with it so try to find other

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relevant problems and apply this concept

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wherever you can try to expand on the

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concept rather than just mechanically

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applying it think about why the concepts

play11:41

fits the problems you encounter think

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about why it might not fit and that way

play11:44

the context of the problems would make

play11:46

more sense practicing can give you more

play11:48

insights that you couldn't have thought

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of from just Theory and this is probably

play11:51

the most important step since it forces

play11:52

you to view the concept from a bunch of

play11:54

different angles so do a lot of practice

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apply the concept to hard problems force

play11:58

yourself to think and allow your brain

play12:00

to get used to applying the concept and

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try to embed the concept into your

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reasoning another useful thing you can

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try to do is explain the concept it's

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been said that you don't really

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understand something until you can

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explain it to someone who doesn't

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understand it for themselves and you

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need to be able to explain this stuff in

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your own words since that proves that

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your understanding is your own rather

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than someone else's so confirm your

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understanding by explaining it to

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someone else

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start from scratch and work your way

play12:23

through the details if you get confused

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by some detail then it means you don't

play12:27

understand it well enough if they get

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confused about some detail and you can't

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explain it then it means you don't

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understand it well enough and that's

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good it reflects a gap in your

play12:35

understanding and that's something you

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can improve on and it's better to catch

play12:39

that Gap now than during a test or

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contest or interview or whatever so

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relearn that part and come back to the

play12:44

whole thing ultimately explaining it not

play12:46

only proves your understanding but it

play12:48

forces you to look for a simpler way of

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representing the concept which can

play12:51

simplify your whole understanding as

play12:52

well and once you can get through a full

play12:54

explanation then you can go to the final

play12:56

step and that final step is exploring

play12:58

and what does exploring mean I mean you

play13:00

should mentally explore random

play13:02

variations of the concept as the legend

play13:04

Terrence Tao puts it ask yourself dumb

play13:06

questions change one part of the concept

play13:08

and see if it still works if not figure

play13:10

out why it doesn't change one part of

play13:11

the problem and see if the concept still

play13:13

applies see if some other solution

play13:14

applies to the same scenario and figure

play13:15

out why it does or doesn't see some past

play13:17

knowledge you had applies to this

play13:19

concept question any intuitive

play13:20

assumptions you're making about the

play13:21

concept harder about them subscribe to

play13:24

my channel try to break the concept come

play13:25

up with weird examples or counter

play13:27

examples and prove that it still works

play13:28

to see how it applies try to look at the

play13:30

concept from different angles try random

play13:32

stuff and see if it leads anywhere talk

play13:34

to others and explore the concept with

play13:35

them ask them about their experience

play13:37

with Concept and the insights they've

play13:38

come up with and just ask why why do we

play13:41

do this step why is this set up this way

play13:43

you want to challenge every part of the

play13:45

concept in general just engage with the

play13:47

concept as much as you can think about

play13:49

stuff that's already intuitive to you

play13:50

and apply as much of it as possible your

play13:52

goal again is to have as many insights

play13:54

as possible to have a chance of getting

play13:55

a deeper understanding of the concept so

play13:57

do as much of this as possible and you

play13:59

should do this whole reinforcement

play14:00

process often there's no set time period

play14:03

I can recommend but if you feel like

play14:04

you're starting to forget the concept or

play14:06

some pieces of it go through this

play14:07

reinforcement process again most

play14:09

importantly try to invent it from

play14:10

scratch again and again if you

play14:12

accidentally remember some parts of it

play14:13

fine and if your memory is good enough

play14:15

you can always remember in a way that

play14:16

makes sense to you fine that means you

play14:18

succeeded but if you can invent it that

play14:20

means you've succeeded in rewiring your

play14:21

brain to accept this concept as a truth

play14:23

your intuition for that problem is the

play14:26

concept it's the thing you think of it's

play14:28

embedded into your thinking so if you

play14:30

invent it you win and if you can't

play14:32

invent it learn it again because over

play14:34

time you're burning a mental Association

play14:36

in your head when you encounter the

play14:37

problem the solution will be the first

play14:39

thing you think of and over time your

play14:41

brain will rewire itself to accept the

play14:43

association and don't just invent do

play14:45

everything else of the reinforcement

play14:46

process too you trap the concept in your

play14:48

mind now you need to keep it there and

play14:50

as you reinforce more and more you'll

play14:52

have to do a less and less frequently

play14:53

and eventually you won't have to do it

play14:54

at all it'll just be permanently seared

play14:56

into your brain but until then keep

play14:57

thinking about the concept keep engaging

play14:59

with it and keep reinforcing your

play15:00

understanding and even if you completely

play15:02

Master the concept it could be worth it

play15:04

to play with the concept every once in a

play15:05

while do a bit of practice with it Etc

play15:07

to keep it fresh in your mind so going

play15:09

back to the big picture here's what the

play15:11

method looks like first you learn the

play15:13

big picture then you gradually look

play15:15

deeper into certain ideas and get more

play15:16

and more specific with details to learn

play15:18

a certain idea you should convince your

play15:20

brain to care try to invent the concept

play15:21

for yourself then internalize the

play15:23

solution with the hole that you've made

play15:24

in your brain finally reinforce it to

play15:26

make sure it stays in your brain to get

play15:28

as many other random insights as

play15:29

possible then learn the next thing so

play15:32

here's another thing I've been thinking

play15:33

of I'm dubbing at the ecosystem of

play15:34

learning if you're going to try to

play15:36

explain stuff in an intuitive way which

play15:38

you should you might as well post that

play15:40

explanation to the public regardless of

play15:42

how good you are if you've had any

play15:43

experience thinking about the topic

play15:45

you've likely had some insights about it

play15:46

and that means others in the future can

play15:48

benefit from your thinking so you can

play15:50

contribute to an ecosystem of learning

play15:51

where people learn things explain those

play15:53

things to test their knowledge and

play15:55

contribute those explanations to the

play15:56

Future public literally just scribble

play15:58

some notes while you're thinking about

play15:59

something collect them in a PDF and just

play16:01

dump it on the internet and you'll help

play16:03

some people out it doesn't matter how

play16:05

chaotic or disorganized it is or how bad

play16:07

your handwriting is it'll probably still

play16:08

help someone and that idea is just cool

play16:11

it's unlikely to happen but it's cool

play16:13

the world is fairly lacking in intuitive

play16:15

explanation so it would be nice if more

play16:16

people tried it and there's not much

play16:18

insight-based learning out there it's

play16:19

just like here's how this concept works

play16:21

and done but there's so much more than

play16:23

that everything has its nuances and

play16:25

their little details are exceptions it

play16:26

just requires in deep thought to be able

play16:28

to contemplate sharing that now

play16:29

knowledge and that thought for others

play16:31

can help them get a much deeper

play16:33

understanding of the concept

play16:34

but yeah that's just an idea I don't

play16:36

plan to put in the effort to make it

play16:37

happen but it also doesn't take that

play16:38

much effort for someone to contribute to

play16:40

so it's somewhat feasible at least okay

play16:42

and let's finish it off by talking about

play16:44

IQ is there some innate ability that

play16:46

makes certain people better off at

play16:48

learning than others and I'm a

play16:49

subscriber of the belief that it's

play16:51

completely useless to believe that like

play16:53

I don't know of any tangible benefit to

play16:55

believing that IQ is a significant

play16:56

factor if you're going to learn

play16:58

something just learn it don't worry

play17:00

about how others do and don't worry

play17:01

about this native ability garbage you're

play17:03

gonna do it anyway so just do it and

play17:06

having confidence is good because it

play17:07

helps with motivation The Confident

play17:09

brain is more willing to try out random

play17:11

things and generate insights so honestly

play17:13

I think IQ is just a form of copium in

play17:15

most cases someone who's not learning

play17:17

well is doing something wrong but IQ

play17:19

offers another more convenient answer

play17:20

the issue is not you or what you're

play17:22

doing but something out of your control

play17:24

and that's comforting in a weird way to

play17:26

know you can't do something about it

play17:27

it's just how it's meant to be but you

play17:30

can you can fix yourself if you're

play17:31

having issues you can introspect or have

play17:34

someone else look at what you're doing

play17:35

and see if anything's going wrong

play17:36

because chances are they are like

play17:39

everyone is human to be human is to be

play17:41

capable of thinking and to be capable of

play17:42

thinking is to be capable of learning

play17:43

you can learn anything it may take a

play17:46

while but you can do it I firmly believe

play17:49

there's nothing that you or anyone isn't

play17:51

capable of learning because everything

play17:52

just boils down to neurons in your head

play17:54

and you have those neurons you just have

play17:56

to try put in the time if it takes a

play17:59

while fine but you'll get there

play18:00

eventually as many others have in the

play18:02

past and basically the only reason you

play18:04

want to compare yourself to others is to

play18:05

see if you're doing anything wrong if

play18:07

there's any way you can benefit from

play18:08

that learning style but you've watched

play18:09

this video now so you have a pretty good

play18:11

method of learning so it doesn't really

play18:12

matter you'll do fine now

play18:14

okay how do we finish this video off

play18:16

I've covered basically everything

play18:17

practice with a method make sure you're

play18:19

engaging with the concept as much as

play18:20

possible and let me know how it goes

play18:22

because I know this works it's what I do

play18:24

myself and I'm pretty good at learning

play18:25

but you know there's a chance it doesn't

play18:27

work on everyone and it's also

play18:28

definitely not the only learning method

play18:30

there are likely many others out there

play18:31

but this one works pretty well and it

play18:33

probably works better on some Concepts

play18:34

than others for example I'm rooted in

play18:36

competitive programming which is rooted

play18:37

in theoretical computer science which is

play18:39

very problem solving oriented so every

play18:41

concept naturally solves a certain

play18:42

problem which is why my method is

play18:44

focused on that stuff like math is good

play18:45

for it too but sometimes it doesn't

play18:47

necessarily make sense to flat out try

play18:49

to invent the stuff you're learning but

play18:51

even if your concept isn't laid out in a

play18:52

way that can make the method easy to use

play18:54

the method could still benefit you you

play18:55

can still do some of the things for

play18:57

example the stuff about reinforcing and

play18:59

engaging with the concept is universally

play19:01

useful so it's the idea of breaking it

play19:03

down to easier pieces and abstracting

play19:04

what you don't yet no so it's good it's

play19:07

also worth mentioning this is a slow

play19:08

paced method you likely want to say this

play19:10

for the hard stuff and take a more quick

play19:12

approach to the simpler less important

play19:13

things so this is slow but it works and

play19:16

it works really well and I'll leave it

play19:18

at that so that's all goodbye

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Related Tags
Learning TechniquesIntuitive UnderstandingCompetitive ProgrammingConcept RetentionInsight GenerationProblem SolvingMemory TechniquesEgo DefenseIQ MythKnowledge Sharing