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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?

#41

Post by mezod »

JamesBarney wrote: post #21

Why do you want to improve your abstract thinking skills? I would be surprised if there is anyway to improve these skills, g(aka IQ) is notoriously hard to improve. But I imagine you want better abstract thinking skills for a specific reason, and it'll probably be much more effective to skip directly to the reason you want to improve these skills.

To be honest, there's no definite reason other than personally growing and being able to understand more concepts. I don't know if IQ can be "improved", but I do know that people who have battled through difficult problems develop ways of thinking that make it easier for further difficult concepts to be understood. Abstract thinking is very powerful and you can train it.

Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?

#42

Post by mezod »

bordercases wrote: post #33
bordercases wrote: post #30

So I'm laughing at all the examples that have made the rounds on HN innumerable times. How about this. "Possible Worlds: An Introduction to Logic and Its Philosophy" https://www.amazon.com/Possible-Worlds-Introduction-Philosop... Analytic philosophy has produced a methodical approach to thinking about things that we don't seem to teach as methods. Instead it trickles down into pop-science takes on thinking which tell…

I also like this guide: https://www.av8n.com/physics/thinking.htm "Learning, Remembering, and Thinking". I recommend checking out his other work for a model of working through problems coming from physicists. One more thing. Oftentimes the key step to thinking is figuring out what you're questions are, and questions are always determined by what uncertainties you have in a domain, as specifically relevant as you can…

thank you

Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?

#43

Post by mezod »

galeforcewinds wrote: post #29

I've always understood abstract thinking to be of broad nature, generalities, non-specific, a vastness. The idea that abstract thinking is devoid of specifics has never struck me as a prohibition that you can't get to abstract thinking by starting with examples and metrics. Looking for patterns, mind mapping, and tabletop exercises all seem like ways to take concrete thinking elements and bridge them to the abstract.…

thank you

Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?

#45

Post by mezod »

alfonsodev wrote: post #3

If 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

awesome!

Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?

#47

Post by mezod »

Myrmornis wrote: post #26
adamsea wrote: post #23

Write, read challenging works of literature, learn an instrument and play music, listen to art music, learn to paint or draw, or take an acting class. Or any other art, such as woodworking or pottery.

The question was posed on a site dedicated to discussion of programming and related subjects. It therefore should be assumed that the author was requesting advice for developing abstract reasoning skills such as are employed in mathematics or software engineering. Your suggestions require explanation as to why they would help this sort of abstract reasoning. As a matter of fact, many people who are proficient in the…

It's true that HN is mostly for devs/engineers but aren't we that awesome that we can be interested in everything else too? :P My original question was broad on purpose, and I appreciate every single answer, it allows for a healthy discussion!

Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?

#48

Post by mezod »

prostitutka wrote: post #9

My 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…

great, thank you!

Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?

#49

Post by lefstathiou »

Here are two mental frameworks that have served me well throughout my career:

I am process oriented and find that my “abstract thinking” improved significantly when I applied a somewhat consistent mental framework / process to questions, situations, challenges or projects (which are often just a series of questions)

#1: the three to five “whys”

Super simple, ask why or how three to five (or as many as necessary) times to try to unravel the root of a problem or issue. “Why did this happen, well why did that happen, how do we know that is why that happened, etc”

#2 break problems or complex issues down into decision trees. Sales are down X%. Well, there are probably 3-5 core events that drive sales (inbound, outbound, retention, competition etc). Looking at the outbound tree, there are 3-5 core activities that drive outbound (phone calls, emails, in-person meetings, conferences, etc). The more you do this on paper, the easier you do this in your mind which is what I believe improves what others see as abstract thinking.

Final thought: I don’t think improved abstract thinking has much to do with memory. You encounter a problem, employ a consistent process and get to a result. The better the process the better the result over time.

Happy to elaborate on any of this further. I was putting together examples but it took away from the core message.

Re: Ask HN: Resources on how to improve abstract thinking skills?

#50

Post by sduff »

songzme wrote: post #12

This is not quite related, but I learned something yesterday. My wife tells me that she wants to be smarter so while we were walking I was trying to teach her mental chess so we can play chess while we walk. And she didn't want to because she was mentally exhausted (perhaps from all my talking, which is totally okay). Some of the smartest people I know don't actively seek out to improve their thinking skills. Its sim…

Mental chess is a bit tough of a challenge. Why not try mental four in a row? Still a bit of memory work required, but not to the extent that chess or blindfolded go require.

I wrote an app to let you play, starting with playing with one colour, before moving on to invisible.

https://simonduff.net/invisilink to play in your browser, and a link to the Android app. Appreciate any feedback :)

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