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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?

#61

Post by cercatrova »

loopbit wrote: post #57
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…

A bit (more) offtopic, but regarding your deck of cards, it's an old technique that magicians use (used?) to display "amazing memory". The usual play is to get people from the audience say random words while you assign those words to something you do everyday (the most common tool is the way to work/school) in order. With training (as you are doing), you can remember long lists of seemingly unrelated things (and the…

Ah yes the method of loci[1], the book Moonwalking with Einstein explains this and other techniques very well

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

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

#62

Post by noobhacker »

minhaz23 wrote: post #60
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…

>why is Louis Vuitton always on the first floor in a shopping mall? Tried googling it to no luck. Any idea?

Some hypotheses:

1. First floor space is the most expensive (a testable assumption), and only luxury brands like LV can afford it.

2. Brand name on the first floor attracts people walking by into the mall.

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

#64

Post by sharmi »

imh wrote: post #11

Study higher level math! Category theory is a brainfuck that exercises that skill well. This book https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/category-theory-sciences doesn't have any real mathy prereqs but is fun. Added benefit from studying math is that its a foundation for a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

This book is also available for free http://category-theory.mitpress.mit.edu/ (html version)

https://github.com/mmai/Category-Theory-for-the-Sciences

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

#65

Post by travmatt »

imh wrote: post #11

Study higher level math! Category theory is a brainfuck that exercises that skill well. This book https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/category-theory-sciences doesn't have any real mathy prereqs but is fun. Added benefit from studying math is that its a foundation for a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

I was going to recommend “How to Prove It”, if someone doesn’t know proofs already.

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

#66

Post by contingencies »

There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are. - 'W. Somerset Maugham on enterprise architecture', Peter Hilton

In practice, designing seems to proceed by oscillating between sub-solution and sub-problem areas, as well as by decomposing the problem and combining sub-solutions. - Nigel Cross

Firmitas, utilitas, venusitas. ("Firmness, utility, delight") - Marcus Vitruvius, De Architectura (22BCE)

Less tongue in cheek, there are quite a few decent, mature systems encouraging thinking from different perspectives. Examples include De Bono's hats system, IDEO's mantras for innovation, Skillman's englightened trial and error, 99% perspiration (ie. just stay focused), design for data, partitioning the problem, prioritizing simplicity and clarity, prototyping, Alan Kay's dream while you are awake, etc.

Culled from http://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup .. there are more there :)

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

#67

Post by Terretta »

nefitty wrote: post #18
jlongr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You memorize the order of an entire deck of cards every day?

Although I'm not as intentional about it as the parent commenter, I try to play with my memory palaces when I get the chance. I'll get a list of 12 random words and memorize them with the technique. This helps me get better and quicker at the process, and it feels good to impress myself every so often.

Shoulder surfing and spitting back bitcoin wallet words would be a neat trick.

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

#68

Post by poat »

I've been working on a project that is something like "a framework of abstractions". I've found that studying and developing its concepts has been a great exercise in abstract thinking. Check it out and see if it's the type of thing you might be interested in. https://github.com/perspectivesonatheme/patterns

I'd also recommend learning some Haskell and category theory. It's difficult stuff and I won't pretend to have a solid handle on either, but what I have learned has been eye-opening.

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

#69

Post by mping »

Learn and do things outside of your domain, for example learn to play an instrument. The mental gymnastic that music requires (which needs both intuition and rational thinking) will teach you to be more creative and to analyze things in a different way.

This is akin to telling an arts major to learn to program.

Personally, I believe it made my thinking much more visual and geometric (or maybe it was all that Legos I played with)

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