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Ask HN: What's your process for learning?

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Re: Ask HN: What's your process for learning?

#91

Post by BOOSTERHIDROGEN »

edanm wrote: post #87
whiteandnerdy wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree on Anki. It's not just for language learning (although it's great for that - I use it for Japanese). I also have a deck for those day-to-day random facts I used to just keep forgetting - family birthdays, proportions for French press coffee, etc. Gwern calculated the total time spent reviewing the average card is 2 mins across your lifespan ( https://www.gwern.net/Spaced%20 repetition) - so anything wor…

Absolutely, and I love Gwern's article as well. I use it for random facts, remembering faces, pretty much anything I learn academically that I can (economics, maths, etc), as well as studying some "lists of facts" just cause, like the location of all the countries in the world. It's also an amazingly designed piece of software in terms of functionality, even if it does have a bit of a learning curve. Honestly, my onl…

could you post your anki's setup? Thank you

Re: Ask HN: What's your process for learning?

#94

Post by raybb »

dpedu wrote: post #79
Joeri wrote: post #40

I almost always only learn things that I can immediately apply afterwards, because otherwise I find I don't retain enough useful knowledge that I have to go through the same learning resources again by the time I need the knowledge. I have two learning modes. When I first come across a new topic, e.g. hadoop, I will go broad and skim as many learning materials as I can to get an idea of the lay of the land. Once I fe…

>What I wish existed was a sort of wikipedia for learning I write (private) wiki pages for myself when learning a new tool or tech. However, I think the process of taking in information and rewriting it in my own words is more valuable than the wiki pages themselves. Plus it's a handy way to store relevant links and brush up on a topic if I don't engage with it for awhile.

What tool do you use to make your private wiki pages?

Re: Ask HN: What's your process for learning?

#95

Post by Top19 »

I would look at Timothy Kenny's courses on Udemy for a really good explanation on this.

There is also a book called "Cognitive Productivity" by a professor at Simon Fraser university I recommend you check out.

Sadly there is not a lot on this subject. A good example of this is the fact that right now, the only traditionally published book on this topic is literally called "How To Read" and was published in the 1940's.

- - - - -

To directly answer the question though, you should: 1. Read a book and use a pen instead of a highlighter. This allows you to not only underline but also write in the margins insights 2. Type up your raw notes 3. Take your raw notes and the synthesize them into a higher level summary of the main points 4. THEN, THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP, take your synthesized notes and create a "concept map" of them, something visual. Mind Maps are a good example of this, but they're only 1 type of concept map. This is extraordinarily easy to remember, and ideally you want to create a visual diagram for each book you read. These pictures or patterns are incredibly easy (comparably) to store in long term memory than recalling say 3 pages of notes. Also they are far easier to draw and convey to another person.

Re: Ask HN: What's your process for learning?

#96

Post by StevenForth »

My learning style is Abstract, Connected, Historical, Written, Social

This means I need to understand the theory first and work down to practical examples (many people learn the other way around but not me). I need to understand how one set of abstractions or theories connects to others that I may understand better. I like to go back to origins, understand motivations, follow the evolution, and see what paths are thought to be dead ends (like machine learning was thought to be a dead end by many people around 2005). I only really understand things if I write them down and preferably write about them. I learn best when I learn with other people, my wife jokes that when I want to learn something I start a company.

Given my learning style, yes, I need to be learning several things in parallel, helps with the connections. I also tend to read too quickly so having three or so learning themes at any time helps me to slow down and reflect.

I have been tracking my learning in granular detail for about ten years using Excel. I am also tracking it on TeamFit.co Every year I build a learning plan (goals, resources, evidence) and track against that.

Re: Ask HN: What's your process for learning?

#97

Post by StevenForth »

xbili wrote: post #89
danielvf wrote: post #43

The biggest test of what I've learned about learning was the day I had to learn embedded programming in twenty four hours. A customer called me at 5 pm. They had a possible six figure hardware sale, but a key aspect of their hardware was too slow, their only embedded software/hardware guy was no longer working there, and they had to have the new code in 24 hours for a demo. The software component to be sped up was th…

"I've found that you can think in your sleep. Maybe this is just me again, but I've learned that as long as I clearly layout a problem, solution, and tools before I sleep, I wake up with the answer." - This is something that occurs to me too, which is why I always scribble the hardest problem I have at hand before I sleep every night. Does wonders. :)

Not sure that I think in my sleep, but I definitely think on long bike rides, has to be more than 60 km though. I will sometimes set up a problem and then let it churn as I turn the crank. Restful and stress reducing too.

Re: Ask HN: What's your process for learning?

#98

Post by npsimons »

danielvf wrote: post #43

The biggest test of what I've learned about learning was the day I had to learn embedded programming in twenty four hours. A customer called me at 5 pm. They had a possible six figure hardware sale, but a key aspect of their hardware was too slow, their only embedded software/hardware guy was no longer working there, and they had to have the new code in 24 hours for a demo. The software component to be sped up was th…

I want to thank you for this - it is not only instructive, but I find it very inspiring.
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