6 ms·

Is this any good? I've had it in my list of things to check out for a while but I suspect it might just be TED-talk pop-psych voodoo stuff.

dmalvarado 9y ago
No, it's really good. They back up their statements with neuroscience research and give you practical implementation tips.
davidgrenier 9y ago
This is a zero-bullshit course. I completed it in about a week an a half (definitely not a lot of work) and it's drastically changed the way I look at learning and my perspective about the difficulty of earning new skills. My pace on reading programming books for instance has gone down such that it takes about 2-3 times it would normally take to go through the material, however the difference is unmistakable with respect to how much I know the material. It took me 2-3 years of additional work experience to be at a comparable level in other topics.
- b_emery 9y ago
  So you read through the books more slowly, practicing, and recalling the material? Can you elaborate on your process now?
  - davidgrenier 9y ago
    I work several subjects in parallel (three books currently). I go through each chapter twice. Once to understand the material then moving on to another book. When I come back to the former book I go through the chapter again creating Anki cards for anything notable. The sheer amount of material I notice I had completely forgotten on the second reading is astounding. I go through the Anki cards daily, in the morning I cover the material created from two of my books. In the evening I go through the third book (which I deem more valuable in a deep sense/abstract). I have yet to have solid a strategy on chunk-building (as the course pushes you to do), however I can still see some bigger units emerge with time.
    - b_emery 9y ago
      Thanks very much
    - jamestimmins 9y ago
      Can you elaborate on why it's valuable to go through different books in parallel? My goal has always been to do one thing at a time, so the idea that the opposite if beneficial is interesting.
      - davidgrenier 9y ago
        The course emphasizes how memory works, you would think that to remember things you have to write the information well-enough in it so it sticks. But in reality, the information has been there the first time around the issue for the brain is finding the information like locating a product in a large warehouse. It is the process of recall that makes things stick to memory as opposed to repeated memorization. Working on several subjects at a time spaces out sessions and prevents the illusion that you have access to the knowledge you worked for when in fact you don't.
        jamestimmins 9y ago
        Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I honestly haven't given much thought to how much I recall; I figured that I remembered what I remembered and that was that. Perhaps that should receive more attention.
      - poppingtonic 9y ago
        These two blog posts by K. Eric Drexler explain why this is important. It's related to learning subjects you have no familiarity with. [1] http://metamodern.com/2009/05/27/how-to-learn-about-everything/ http://metamodern.com/2009/05/27/how-to-learn-about-everythi... [2] http://metamodern.com/2009/05/17/how-to-understand-everything-and-why/ http://metamodern.com/2009/05/17/how-to-understand-everythin...
- maxwellfoley 9y ago
  Based on that endorsement, I'm going to have to check it out for sure. Thanks!
- tchaffee 9y ago
  Can confirm. I'm a fast learner, and this course made noticeable improvements in my learning speed and ability to memorize.
throwaway4569 9y ago
It was alright in the sense that I went through it passively (didn't do the assignments, just watched the videos). They put a great perspective on how we learn which summarized to spaced repetition, taking in subjects as chunks, and some time management techniques(like the pomodoro).
Jemmeh 9y ago
It's great. They also link to a lot of additional optional reading to backup what they're talking about and much of that is also very useful.
neves 9y ago
It is excellent. Technics I've taken years to collect are grouped and organized in just one place. Go for it. I'd put more emphasis in topics like SRS, but maybe it is a matter of taste.
fgandiya 9y ago
sp527 covered it pretty well, but it's a really good class. While you could just read the instructor's book, A Mind for Numbers, this does a good job with the motivational aspect. It even comes with interviews from some successful scientists on the tips they use.

dmalvarado 9y ago

No, it's really good. They back up their statements with neuroscience research and give you practical implementation tips.

davidgrenier 9y ago

This is a zero-bullshit course. I completed it in about a week an a half (definitely not a lot of work) and it's drastically changed the way I look at learning and my perspective about the difficulty of earning new skills. My pace on reading programming books for instance has gone down such that it takes about 2-3 times it would normally take to go through the material, however the difference is unmistakable with respect to how much I know the material. It took me 2-3 years of additional work experience to be at a comparable level in other topics.

b_emery 9y ago
So you read through the books more slowly, practicing, and recalling the material? Can you elaborate on your process now?
- davidgrenier 9y ago
  I work several subjects in parallel (three books currently). I go through each chapter twice. Once to understand the material then moving on to another book. When I come back to the former book I go through the chapter again creating Anki cards for anything notable. The sheer amount of material I notice I had completely forgotten on the second reading is astounding. I go through the Anki cards daily, in the morning I cover the material created from two of my books. In the evening I go through the third book (which I deem more valuable in a deep sense/abstract). I have yet to have solid a strategy on chunk-building (as the course pushes you to do), however I can still see some bigger units emerge with time.
  - b_emery 9y ago
    Thanks very much
  - jamestimmins 9y ago
    Can you elaborate on why it's valuable to go through different books in parallel? My goal has always been to do one thing at a time, so the idea that the opposite if beneficial is interesting.
    - davidgrenier 9y ago
      The course emphasizes how memory works, you would think that to remember things you have to write the information well-enough in it so it sticks. But in reality, the information has been there the first time around the issue for the brain is finding the information like locating a product in a large warehouse. It is the process of recall that makes things stick to memory as opposed to repeated memorization. Working on several subjects at a time spaces out sessions and prevents the illusion that you have access to the knowledge you worked for when in fact you don't.
      - jamestimmins 9y ago
        Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I honestly haven't given much thought to how much I recall; I figured that I remembered what I remembered and that was that. Perhaps that should receive more attention.
    - poppingtonic 9y ago
      These two blog posts by K. Eric Drexler explain why this is important. It's related to learning subjects you have no familiarity with. [1] http://metamodern.com/2009/05/27/how-to-learn-about-everything/ http://metamodern.com/2009/05/27/how-to-learn-about-everythi... [2] http://metamodern.com/2009/05/17/how-to-understand-everything-and-why/ http://metamodern.com/2009/05/17/how-to-understand-everythin...
maxwellfoley 9y ago
Based on that endorsement, I'm going to have to check it out for sure. Thanks!
tchaffee 9y ago
Can confirm. I'm a fast learner, and this course made noticeable improvements in my learning speed and ability to memorize.

throwaway4569 9y ago

It was alright in the sense that I went through it passively (didn't do the assignments, just watched the videos). They put a great perspective on how we learn which summarized to spaced repetition, taking in subjects as chunks, and some time management techniques(like the pomodoro).

Jemmeh 9y ago

It's great. They also link to a lot of additional optional reading to backup what they're talking about and much of that is also very useful.

neves 9y ago

It is excellent. Technics I've taken years to collect are grouped and organized in just one place. Go for it. I'd put more emphasis in topics like SRS, but maybe it is a matter of taste.

fgandiya 9y ago

sp527 covered it pretty well, but it's a really good class. While you could just read the instructor's book, A Mind for Numbers, this does a good job with the motivational aspect. It even comes with interviews from some successful scientists on the tips they use.