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Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

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Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#1

Post by kev6168 »

By "quick", I mean within a very small amount of time, you are able to:

1. look at things from _many_ different perspectives quickly,

2. find/construct relationships between remote things quickly,

3. recall relevant knowledge/experience from memory quickly,

4. observe the environment and quickly grasp essentials about the situation,

How to train yourself to be better in this kind of "quick thinking"?

What are your recommendations of books/videos/courses? What are the necessary thinking habits/approaches/methodologies? What are the training methods/processes?

Note that here, if forced to choose, we are seeking the ability of "breadth and quantity" of our thoughts, not "depth and correctness". Of course we are not against the latter, but your recommendations should focus on "quickness".

Re: Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#2

Post by cskakun »

I think it's all practice, and a little natural talent. Then again I can't say I'm the fastest thinker. That is, I don't know. I've never compared myself.

What you're talking about here takes practice and a super powered brain. But at the same time, maybe you need to be more specific. I ask myself these questions sometimes as well. Try learning a diverse skill set, rounding yourself out. At the same time, know and accept the brain's limitations. For example, you wouldn't start a car in 5th gear. But those are the kinds of things we do with our psychology all the time. Like multitasking, stressing ourselves out, fatiguing our brains, eating shitty food, breathing poorly.

But why is quickness so important?

Drugs, in the right doses, can sometimes help you do this.

Maybe understanding "why" would help as well.

Re: Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#3

Post by rayalez »

I don't think it's possible to literally speed up the way brain processes the information, neurons will probably fire and transmit the information at a constant rate.

So if we want to "think faster" we are tallking about:

- strengthening connections between the neurons

- learning new patterns, so that instead of reprocessing the information(reinventing ideas) brain would "cache" the familiar patterns as memories.

I guess either way, the solution to both things comes down to developing skill. Picking a type of problems and solving them a lot, until brain builds up the circuits for them.

I think that when a person "observes the environment and quickly grasps essentials about the situation" he is simply recognizing a familiar pattern, so to be better/faster at that you simply need to learn more patterns(experience). The same goes for the point 3 - the more often you use/recall some information, the better you will be at it.

Regarding the points 1 and 2 - I highly recommend a book "Serious Creativity" by Edward De Bono, learn and practice skills this book is explaining. This is the best book on creativity I've ever encountered, it addresses exactly these issues.

Besides that, a practical advice would be to remove things that slow you down. Remove anxiety, distractions, learn to focus better. Learning meditation is very useful for that.

Re: Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#4

Post by kev6168 »

cskakun wrote: post #2

I think it's all practice, and a little natural talent. Then again I can't say I'm the fastest thinker. That is, I don't know. I've never compared myself. What you're talking about here takes practice and a super powered brain. But at the same time, maybe you need to be more specific. I ask myself these questions sometimes as well. Try learning a diverse skill set, rounding yourself out. At the same time, know and ac…

about the why, I think the ability to think quickly (in wide breadth and large quantity, even with some shallowness due to time constraint) becomes more and more important in modern times, compared to, say, the Renaissance days, because the vast amount of information available, the increasingly complicated and complex situations we face in work place and daily life, and the fast pace of everything moving at, the subsequent demand for people to handle all these.

Re: Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#6

Post by kev6168 »

rayalez wrote: post #3

I don't think it's possible to literally speed up the way brain processes the information, neurons will probably fire and transmit the information at a constant rate. So if we want to "think faster" we are tallking about: - strengthening connections between the neurons - learning new patterns, so that instead of reprocessing the information(reinventing ideas) brain would "cache" the familiar patterns as memories. I g…

Practice a lot to get very familiar with many patterns, to a degree that those patterns become second nature so it takes little time to recognize them. Also thanks for the book recommendation.

Re: Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#7

Post by poppup »

Good question. In my view, thinking fast has to do with how well you can process emotion. Do you get stuck in the headlights or do you dive out of the way of the truck coming at you?

That is not a question of preparedness mentally. It is a question of emotional preparedness. As in, how do you process fear?

As to the ability to process information, that is also related to emotion, as in, what do you care to pay attention to and what do you readily discard?

Knowing how you feel and then being capable of processing emotions quickly as they arise is probably the most important skill there is for us humans and that is true whether you lived during the Rennaissance or in a cave or if you work at google.

If you are interested in more about the subject of becoming more capable, let me know. I am writing a book about it presently and would love to share it with you and get your feedback. The results have been pretty great. People say that focusing on capabilities makes them feel lighter and younger. I also feel lighter, my thoughts flow at lightning speed, making me more prepared for change. I can be found at poppitup on twitter. Just follow the cat.

Re: Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#9

Post by kev6168 »

poppup wrote: post #7

Good question. In my view, thinking fast has to do with how well you can process emotion. Do you get stuck in the headlights or do you dive out of the way of the truck coming at you? That is not a question of preparedness mentally. It is a question of emotional preparedness. As in, how do you process fear? As to the ability to process information, that is also related to emotion, as in, what do you care to pay attent…

emotion and feeling! this is a wonderful angle to look at the ability of "quickness in thinking". I always suspect there is more to the 'hard' portion(knowledge/experience/skills) that contributes to one's quickness. The 'soft' part might be _more_ important. This is one question needed to be studied. Another question is how to tap into and train the emotion/feeling part to modify/increase/utilize it, or is it mostly innate?

About the "quickness" I am asking for, If a gun is pointed at me and I am forced to come up with an analogy, I would say I am asking for the "quickness" in James Bond's behaviors and handling of situations, not the thoughtfulness and depth of Sherlock Holmes (although he was not slow for sure), if you know what I mean. Sorry for the bad analogy.

very interested in your book, will definitely follow it.

Re: Ask HN: How to train yourself to become a quick thinker?

#10

Post by achow »

Take up Yoga.

My personal experience is I benefited on the points that you have mentioned and then some more. Would sound corny but the best way to describe the experience is like what was shown in the movie 'Limitless' - it was of course not to that extent, but after doing Yoga for few weeks I felt as if some fog was lifted from my brain (which prior to that I didn't even realize was there), I was able to connect things much more efficiently, do pattern matching and all at subconscious level. Also, I realized I could remember long numbers (ex. ph no.) much more easily - I was never partial to mathematics right from childhood. If I have to rationalize it then I would think its not only because of exercises, inverted postures (which allows more blood flow to your upper regions of the body) etc. but also due to breathing exercises - which not only helps your lungs but brain as well.

There are scientific work around Yoga and improvement on cognitive abilities, one that I could find easily: The Acute Effects of Yoga on Executive Function http://kch.illinois.edu/research/labs/neurocognitive-kinesio...

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