Improving one's learning speed.

[TheIronStar]

It's virtually a cliche now. "It's not what you know now, it's how fast you learn." But none of the people who spout that accursed bromide ever seem to have any knowledge on how to increase one's overall learning speed.

Where would I go to become faster at learning things (that is, anything and everything; not merely in academic learning, nor necessarily only things that captivate my interest)?

[RT Wolf]

I'm finding mind mapping is helping me get concepts better. I'm starting to think more visually, too and I remember stuff better. Having a specific purpose also helps, like, knowing exactly when and where you'd use the concept.

Other than that, I'd imagine Photoreading/speedreading has some benefits.

You also have to figure out what you mean by "learning". You can be reading to get information, or to learn concepts. I'm sure there's books on learning concepts better, as well. I'm also keen to get more tips if anyone's got any.

HTH.

[sri]

here are some things that I've discovered/read about on the same journey

(some of the items in this list deal with the general "how to learn" than with "how to learn quickly" -- but i truly believe that to learn something quickly, deeply, throughly and effectively, you must have these learning fundamentals -- they should help you form a habit of learning, which is probably the most important thing needed to learn things quickly... hope it helps

1. Develop concentration and single-mindedness -- basically you must be able to focus on difficult things (and learning is quiet difficult) for long periods of time.
2. Willingness to be a fool -- that is don't be afraid of looking silly in front of others. from The Natural Way To Draw (p 3) -- "The Sooner you make your first 5000 mistakes, the sooner you will be able to correct them".
3. Not having internal resistance to new ideas and new ways of doing things -- the ability to hold an idea in your head without judging it
4. "I know it already" attitude is a killer -- if you think that you know something, but you really don't, then that attitude of yours won't let the new information thru, and so you will fool yourself
5. Ask small questions and derive answers from them -- "What does this mean?", "What happens if you do this, but not that?" -- this will give you knowledge of a thing, step by step -- instead if you take a giant step, you risk stepping over something that you don't understand
6. the fundamentals are absolutely important -- either in math or in basketball. they must become a part of you -- that is, you shouldn't think about to, they must become instinctive (see the book Mastery by George Leonard, about this)
7. Learn something everyday -- and if you aren't struggling they you aren't really learning. So struggle. This everyday practice will help you learn things faster and faster.
8. Like our steve is fond of saying, immerse yourself completely in that topic (probably for long periods of time) -- 5-6 hours a day for 10 months.
9. Have a role model -- who is at a level where you want to be. Notice how they act, how they work, how they talk, walk etc. -- this is, notice everything about them and try to discover how, how they live, relates to why they are an expert in that subject matter. Try to model their life...
10. ok, so you are half way to becoming an expert in a subject matter. and there will be beginners in that subject matter who ask some (so-called) stupid questions. people who are almost experts, dismiss those questions with a laugh (and that's probably why, they never become complete experts in their lives). to become an expert, listen to the beginner's questions and concerns with absolute respect -- they are teaching you something: figure out what that is. basically, learn from everyone and everything; and to do that you must have a humble attitude.
    
11. be enthusiastic when you come across a problem you don't know how to solve -- that attitude is important
12. and always read about and learn from other problem solvers -- how they do it, etc. For example, Donald Knuth is a preeminent computer scientist. There is an NPR audio interview with him -- in it he talks about how he thinks about efficiency (which is very important in computer science -- to make computers run faster) -- he thinks about efficiency even while brushing his teeth at night time -- "now, how can i make brushing teeth more efficient?". this kind of constant thinking about something -- "how can i make this more efficient?", "how can i improve in this area?" and relating them to the real world is a big, big plus -- cue Law Of Attraction

[Alarin]

I've always loved learning and have been able to learn new things very fast using the following method, I'm sure there are better ways to learn admittedly but this has worked well for me so I hope something of it is helpful

When I go to learn a new thing - anything - I first completely swamp myself in knowledge about that thing by reading books, joining forums, talking to people about it, etc. At first most of it will make no sense at all and it feels like I'm just cluttering up my brain with information, but I keep doing this until I have a vague understanding of what I'm learning.

Then I go back and approach the subject like I'm a complete beginner to it, doing very basic tutorials / lessons and asking lots of beginner questions. What I find is that by approaching the subject in this way I'm not overwhelmed by all the new terminology and ways of doing things because I've already subjected my brain to that and it's solidified into useable knowledge. I can then take that knowledge and apply it to the mechanics of the subject to learn it, and I have a much better understanding this way of what I'm learning.

Hope that helps

[Niki]

Originally Posted by sri

here are some things that I've discovered/read about on the same journey

WAW Great post

[toasterwater]

I second that. These are some great pointers. This is exactly what i have been looking for as well. I recently started 2 college courses: History of the United States Since 1865, and Intro to Psychology.

Since i started these classes, i have been in the PD mindset. How can I learn everything very efficiently, and perform excellently? I wont be content with a B. I want an A. Even better, I want a 100% in each class, and I want to retain all of the knowledge from t-he courses.

Now, those are some pretty high standards, but I wont be heartbroken if I dont acheive them. The important thing is that I strive for those things. If i strive for perfection, and fall short, then chances are that Ill be alot better off than if i strive for mediocrity right?

Anyway, I appreciate the advice, and if anyone wants to add advice on how to learn academics better, id love to hear about that as well.

As for my 2 cents- These are a couple of basic tips for learning.

-Stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water will keep your brain hydrated (and keep you awake and alert) which will allow you to learn more effectively.

-Take breaks. If you try to read straight through a 150 page book in one sitting, chances are your gonna lose focus (okay... maybe not with photoreading... but my photoreading course still hasnt arrived- 3 weeks later! so i cant say much on that topic). Taking a break before you lose your focus will ensure that you absorb what you read, rather than just going over the words.

-I listen to instrumental music, whether it be classical, trance, techno, or other, while i read. This helps me focus for a couple of reasons. (1) the sound will "drown out" the background noises and keep you from being distracted. (2) Without words in the music, I am not tempted to "sing along" in my head, and the music offers nothing to think about, which would again distract me from my reading.

Thats all Ive got for now, thanks for the great posts, and keep 'em commin.

[TheIronStar]

Forgive me if I'm committing the sin of item 4 on your list, but most of what you've mentioned is common sense IMO.

Immersion isn't really affordable at this time, and even if it was, learning via brute-force resource allocation isn't what I'm looking for; rather the opposite: how to upgrade my native learning ability to the point that I can pick up something that might take one hour of study/drills/etc. in forty-five minutes or the like. (I've done too much brute-force resource allocation in my life in general--I need to learn to do things smart.)

I don't have the advantage of access to a role model, although hopefully that will change someday.

[Brutha]

1) Improve your Ability to Remember things.
Learn Memory Systems, with them it takes less time to "save" information in your brain.

2) Learn Speed Reading
Reading is involed in most learning

3) Learn Time Managment
It gives you more time to learn.

4) Learn Basics about Learning in General. At the moment this is not realy a well researched field.

-Take breaks. If you try to read straight through a 150 page book in one sitting, chances are your gonna lose focus

Good point, but wrong reason. You take breaks to increase the time in which you "begin learning" and "end learning" because you remember information better that is learned in those times.

[songwriter]

Well, I'm a fast learner since I was born. I still am. Always learning faster than the others on the class, etc. (A little bit disturbing to them maybe...).

For me the key is attention, not even curiosity. I learn fast things that I don't even like but I need to learn...

For instance in school, high school and university I always was listening attentively to the teacher and trying to understand what he says. Not just the words.

A very important thing is... to know what's important and what it's not.

I remember that If one day I didn't attended a class I had to ask someone for their notes.
The first thing I had to do was to eliminate all the things that were noted that weren't important at all.
People told me that I knew how to study, or maybe what to study.
Perhaps that's why I'm here...

I read very fast. I sometimes pick a paper or so and I read it and a person next to me tells me I could not have read it yet. I don't know how I get to it. It has not been a special technique... well.. it might have been some of what Steve talks about, I don't know.

[The Protagonist]

I reccomend speed reading, lemme dig up some links

[songwriter]

I would like to change the original quote "It's not what you know, it's knowing where to find the information"

[Brutha]

I would like to change the original quote "It's not what you know, it's knowing where to find the information"

That's a different quote, that hasn't much to do with this thread, you might open your own thread to discuss it.

[TheIronStar]

Originally Posted by Brutha

4) Learn Basics about Learning in General. At the moment this is not realy a well researched field.

Where would I find out about such basics?

Originally Posted by songwriter

A very important thing is... to know what's important and what it's not.

How would I know what's important and what's not? (Beyond the usual common-sense stuff; bolded text in academic textbooks, for example, would be one example of the obvious.)

[Rach]

Originally Posted by TheIronStar

Where would I find out about such basics?


How would I know what's important and what's not? (Beyond the usual common-sense stuff; bolded text in academic textbooks, for example, would be one example of the obvious.)

What concepts your teacher/instructor puts the most emphasis/talks the most about would be one clue.

[TheIronStar]

Originally Posted by Rach

What concepts your teacher/instructor puts the most emphasis/talks the most about would be one clue.

Yes, one might suspect so, assuming the environment is such that there's a teacher or instructor involved.

[Jm4362]

Originally Posted by songwriter

For me the key is attention, not even curiosity. I learn fast things that I don't even like but I need to learn...

For instance in school, high school and university I always was listening attentively to the teacher and trying to understand what he says. Not just the words.

A very important thing is... to know what's important and what it's not.

This is what I have done, and it works for me!

~Jm4362

[magi13]

Sweet, I agree with what most of the people wrote here. Proactive learning is the way to go. It's a conscious approach.

[MisterEThoughts]

Mind-Mapping definitely works. There is a program out there, that will help you to Mind-Map.