Treat your views as theories or hypotheses to be tested through experiments in your life, prioritizing getting the answer right over being right. This fosters mental flexibility and allows you to change your mind at the right times for the right reasons.
Break down complex decisions into independent dimensions, evaluate each separately, and delay forming an overall intuition until all dimensions are considered. This prevents premature judgment and confirmation bias, leading to better decisions.
To learn any skill, break it down into sub-skills and actively rehearse each one under varying, non-optimal conditions, especially by answering questions you’ve never seen before. This active recall and application, rather than passive rereading, effectively prepares you for real-world application and tests.
View surprise and anomalies as valuable learning opportunities, as they indicate an incorrect model of the world. Instead of dismissing things that ‘don’t make sense,’ dive in to understand why they are true, as this can reveal hidden opportunities.
Combine face-to-face learning from trusted mentors with intense online experimentation, leveraging resources like Wikipedia, Google, podcasts, blogs, and Twitter to cross-check and investigate information. This dual approach is key to developing robust judgment.
Cultivate an attitude of humility by accepting that you will never be the best at everything, and use feedback and the vastness of online knowledge to re-energize your desire to learn and grow, rather than being discouraged. This fosters continuous personal growth.
Overcome procrastination by using the Pomodoro technique: turn off all distractions, set a timer for 25 minutes of focused work, and then reward yourself with a comfortable distraction. This trains your brain to be more comfortable in focused mode and integrates diffuse thinking.
Allow your brain to ‘go random’ and experience boredom for parts of the day, for example by going for a walk, to foster creative thinking and avoid suppressing default mode activity from excessive focused work. This balance is crucial for creativity.
Incorporate regular physical exercise into your routine to enhance learning, as it promotes brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which helps grow new neural connections and consolidate learning. Even a little bit of exercise can help learning stick better.
Embrace memorization as an integral part of learning, as actively recalling information (like equations or solutions) from your mind enough times can lead to deeper understanding and mastery of material. Don’t view memorization as ’evil.’
During breaks from mentally intensive tasks, engage in physical activity instead of mentally similar tasks (like social media) to allow the brain to rest and engage diffuse mode. This prevents using the same brain areas and provides a true mental break.
To remember anything, create a picture, pattern, story, or rhyme out of it, as all effective mnemonic devices utilize these methods. This makes information more memorable than rote memorization.
Attempt sample questions at the end of a chapter before reading the chapter to prime your brain. This helps you identify what’s relevant, what you don’t know, and what to focus on as you read.
When taking notes, translate them into your own words rather than verbatim copying. This rehearses the skill of expressing understanding, which is required in tests and real-world application, making your learning more effective.
Actively seek feedback, especially from people who don’t know you, by having them ask questions and then grading your responses and listening to their input. This helps identify and correct behaviors you might be unaware of.
Actively seek out and engage with information and books you disagree with or find offensive, aiming to learn from them rather than devaluing and dismissing them. This fosters greater understanding and personal growth.
Avoid outsourcing your thinking to political parties or groups; instead, strive to form independent opinions based on information and scientific reasoning. This ensures your beliefs are genuinely your own.
Satisfy the twin desires to fit in and stand out by joining unique groups with clear, well-defined boundaries. This allows you to be part of something distinct while also feeling a sense of belonging.
Be wary of confusing confidence with competence; the more certain someone is of their opinions, the more hesitant you should be to accept their views. High confidence does not equate to knowledge or accuracy.
Improve your thinking by relentlessly asking questions, allowing one answer to suggest another question, which in turn leads to further inquiry. This iterative process drives deeper understanding.
To foster great insights, allow yourself time and learn to listen to your unconscious mind. A key clue that you’ve tapped into truth is when the answer surprises or startles you, rather than being a logical deduction.
Adapt your reading strategy based on your age and goals: when young, prioritize ‘quake books’ that challenge your worldview; as you get older, read more for specific facts and cultural insights, accepting that many books will be more ‘disposable.’
Reread classic works periodically, for example, every 10 years, to gain new insights as your worldview and understanding evolve. This allows for deeper appreciation and learning over time.
For most books, especially non-fiction, don’t feel obligated to finish them cover-to-cover. Instead, read the first 20-30 pages to decide if it’s worth continuing, and be willing to stop if another book offers higher value.
Consider reading physical books over digital ones if you find that the physical location of information on a page helps you remember it better. This can enhance recall by associating content with its spatial position.
Fold over pages in physical books where you find notable information, as the physical act can help you remember the content better, even if you don’t revisit the fold. This serves as a mnemonic aid.
To read well and quickly, especially non-fiction, continuously read throughout your life, as prior reading investment builds a foundation that makes new material easier and faster to comprehend. Your understanding results from your cumulative reading.
Reduce distractions, noise, and physical discomfort in your environment to promote clearer thinking. While minor, even choosing calming room colors can contribute to a more conducive decision-making space.
Be aware that ready-made answers and emotions often get in the way of clear, independent thinking. Recognizing these intuitive views and emotional influences is the first step to mitigating their impact on your judgment.
When you have an immediate conviction about a decision, make a conscious effort to slow down your thought process. This allows for more deliberate consideration and can prevent errors stemming from rapid, unexamined intuitions.
Wherever possible, replace human judgments with rules and algorithms to improve the quality of decision-making. While there may be social costs, algorithms are likely to yield better outcomes.
As a parent, expose your teenage children to many of your quality friends who can serve as alternative role models. Your direct influence becomes limited during these years, and external role models can provide valuable guidance.