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Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
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Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#2Eno and Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies is a classic. It’s based on the idea that creativity is based on constraints, so artificially adding new boundaries to a problem helps the mind find new solutions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies
Read up on “lateral thinking,” it’s sort of the gospel of graphic design. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#3If it's about programming
the book How to Design Programs[1],
Chapter 3 is about Abstraction
[edit] And is more general as some other use is suggestion philosophy is great.
I'd recommend you a podcast titled "In our Time: Philosophy" from BBC Radio 4.[2]
[1] http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/part_three.html
[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01f0vzr/episodes/downloads
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#4A lot of the way experts think is actually very domain-specific. So if you want to be good at thinking about a specific domain, might be worth reading one of Gary Klein's books about naturalistic decision making. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Intuition-Feelings-Better-Decis... is the most practical of the ones I've read.
More generically: learn how to write. Most hard problems won't fit in your head. Most of the ways we think are too vague and fuzzy. Writing things down and working through something in writing can help find the limits of your thinking process, and help you find solutions. I review a book that explains this very well here: https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/06/15/writing-book/
(You could alternatively take a good academic writing class at your local university.)
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#5Play d and d
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#6Euclid's Elements teaches geometric concepts that you're probably familiar with, but with interesting proofs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid%27s_Elements
It's free, it's time tested, and probably just the right amount of rigor to get your proof abilities up. I think the ability to prove theorems and the ability to construct abstractions go hand-in-hand.
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#7Read literature and/or philosophy (the latter is good for understanding abstractions, the former is good for understanding others' abstractions), do lots of math.
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#8I'm just being a snarky smartass, but you could probably improve your abstract thinking skills by trying to find the answer to this question yourself. :-)
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#9My answer to your question is math. Learn to read and write proofs. Any intro to proofs will do: those employed in discrete math, the ones in analysis, the diagram chasing ones, whatever...Working with math proofs will definitely straighten out your thinking and whip your mind into shape.
Some suggestions to get you started:
Book of Proof by Richard Hammack: https://www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/BookOfProof/
Discrete Math by Susanna Epp: https://www.amazon.com/Discrete-Mathematics-Applications-Sus...
Mathematical Proofs: A Transition to Advanced Mathematics by Chartrand et al: https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Proofs-Transition-Advanc...
How to Think About Analysis by Lara Alcock: https://www.amazon.com/Think-About-Analysis-Lara-Alcock/dp/0...
Learning to Reason: An Introduction to Logic, Sets, and Relations by Nancy Rodgers: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Reason-Introduction-Logic-Re...
Mathematics: A Discrete Introduction by Edward Scheinerman: https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Discrete-Introduction-Edw...
The Real Analysis Lifesaver: All the Tools You Need to Understand Proofs by Rafi Grinberg: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Analysis-Lifesaver-Understand-Pr...
Linear Algebra: Step by Step by Kuldeep Singh: https://www.amazon.com/Linear-Algebra-Step-Kuldeep-Singh/dp/...
Abstract Algebra: A Student-Friendly Approach by the Dos Reis: https://www.amazon.com/Abstract-Algebra-Student-Friendly-Lau...
That's probably plenty for a start.
Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?
#10The way people think and make decisions is prone to different types of cognitive errors. Learn, recognize, and apply ways to overcome those classes of errors. Then learn, recognize, and apply mental models to improve your decision making.