There are many reasons to study. Some people study to get a degree and find a job. Others study because of their curiosity. When we study to fill in the gap in our capabilities and reach a bigger goal, I would call it a strategic studying. Here I discuss the way I handle strategic studying. …
Commitment, resilience and vagus nerve training
There was a large series about relaxation and resilience on the psychologytoday blog. In a spirit quite similar to our blog, the relevant activities are called “training” and the organ being trained is neurologically defined as “vagus nerve”. I link all of it here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part …
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Self-Education Vs. College. Top Pros and Cons for Smart Guys
Many of our students wonder if they need to start with college or self education (like a coding bootcamp). Ideally one should start by self-educated work to see if the work pleases him. Then the colledge education will be percieved in perspective of practical experience. Further self-education or advanced degree will result in deeper and …
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Self awareness and cognitive biases
People are not perfect. Some of these imperfections are known as cognitive biases. Being aware of our cognitive biases, we may be able to mitigate them. Self-awareness is strongly linked to personal wellbeing, professional success, and learning abilities. For more reading please check here, here, here, here, here, and here. Why questions Being a scientist, I …
Jokes and memorization
For many people, humor is a serious matter. When used with proper care humor can release tension, improve productivity, generate long-term memories, and make us enjoy stepping out of our comfort zone. April’s fool day is a great day to write a serious article about humor, and I am not going to miss this opportunity. …
Iterative reading of complex documents
Suppose we are doing a research project, and find a patent or a complex article. The document contains text, tables, graphs, names, numbers, formulas… Where do we even start reading? How do we know we understand what needs to be understood? Occasionally it makes sense to read a document more than once or twice, but …
Do mental math
Read about Trachtenberg system for mental math. Now choose a random number. Start with 5 digits, with time try to upgrade to longer numbers. Do mental computations. Expected effects: faster and better working memory access, improvement of mathematical tasks. No program or tools required: everything can be done in your head. Beginner level Multiply by …
Six types of socratic questions
We ask similar questions after each time we preread or read the text. The questions can be divided into questions building our curiosity so we can focus on the text and questions we asked in order to ensure we understood the text properly. This post mainly deals with questions of the second kind. If we …
Source of genius
Is being a genius something we get at birth, something we acquire by hard work or some luck that comes to people who are prepaired for it? Can someone willingly become a genius? There is simply not enough statistical evidence to decide one way or another. Take this article for example. From looking at it …
Physiology of memory
There is a reason we do not talk much about physiology of memory. We simply do not have enough information that does not spark controversy. Below are some examples. Is there a limit on chunking and working memory? Working memory is the basis of our memorization. It is studied via various cognitive tasks performed by …