While superlearning ultimately is a way to gather knowledge, it is not the way to generate wisdom. In one of the future posts we will describe information vs knowledge vs wisdom, but for now we just say that wisdom is a way of using knowledge properly. In fact it is very much alike the difference between efficiency (doing things fast) and effectiveness (reaching the most desirable result). To benefit from the superlearning skills we should learn some complementary skill-sets. In this post we argue that mindfulness is on of these complementary skills.
Mindfulness is a very popular world nowadays, but what it means. I cite wikipedia:
Mindfulness is moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, characterized mainly by “acceptance” – attention to thoughts and feelings without judging whether they are right or wrong. Mindfulness focuses the human brain on what is being sensed at each moment, instead of on its normal rumination on the past or on the future.
To demonstrate the mindful approach in popular culture consider the following prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
Kung-fu panda’s Oogway summerizes: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.
Now, what has all of this to do with superlearning?
- When learning something new try to separate what you already know, what you want to know and what you are actually reading
- When trying to apply your knowledge, consider if the knowledge is sufficiently accurate. Maybe it is best to wait and apply the knowledge after further learning.
- Things change. Paradigms shift. Is your knowledge still valid, or it has been disproved by later discoveries?
- Trying to hypothesize about future builds up interest, but does not really add knowledge.
- When trying to generate mental landscape, think what is the best solution today, not how you will remember it two years from now.
- Do not put away the article you want to read just now. In the future you will probably have no time for it. So why not just do it?
We would like to hear more examples for application of mindfulness to superlearning skills. Please write to [email protected].
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