To actually learn things, the process shouldn’t be too easy.
Learning routines is easy, but non-transferable.
Learning by repetition is good for short term recall, but not good for long-term.
Learning using hints helps make you “feel” like you’ve learned something more quickly, but takes away ultimate learning.
Block learning, intensely focusing on one subject, then moving on, is a bad way to actually learn something.
The best, scientifically-backed learning mechanisms include the use of cross-cutting ties.
➡️ Learning lesson in short: Easy come, easy go.
In The Organized Mind, Daniel Levitin says items that are processed with more active involvement are more deeply encoded in the brain. We remember better and learn more when we process. This was reinforced in Smarter, Faster, Better in which Charles Duhigg spoke about “disfluency” and how it was advantageous for actually learning. Students who hand-wrote their notes did a better job than students who rapidly transcribed what their teachers were saying. The typists got way more of the information copied, but didn’t have to process it as much. By hand-writing things students are slowed to the point where the cannot possibly capture everything, and therefore must continually separate out the wheat from the chaff. A further step in this direction leads you into the realm of Visual Notetaking.
In episode 1 of Huberman Labs, Dr. Andrew Huberman talked about how neuroplasticity in adults (basically the ability to learn & change) is only possible due to stressors. Like anything the body maintains homeostasis until a stress is put on it that forces it to adapt.
Example
Research scientists gave psych students a list of words, then tested their recall of those words. The independent variable was the situation in which they learned them.
Group 1: Given the words, asked to recall the list immediately.
Group 2: Given the words, allowed to practice them for 15 seconds, then asked to recall the list.
Group 3: Given the words, given a few simple mathematical problems to solve, then asked to recall the list.
In the immediate recall test, the groups success of the groups was as expected, in descending order. Group 1 was better than Group 2, which was better than Group 3.
However - all three groups were also asked to recall the words ~30 minutes later. In this delayed recall test, the groups performed exactly the opposite. Group 3 was better than Group 2, which was better than Group 1.
Source
- Range - Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
- The Organized Mind
- Smarter, Faster, Better
- Ultralearning
- Huberman Labs