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New theory proposes ‘forgetting’ is a form of learning

tcd.ie

11–20 of 75 posts

Re: New theory proposes ‘forgetting’ is a form of learning

#11
I forget everything I didn't figure out myself. Some books I struggled, looked at the answers, and I can't remember anything I did 5+ years later. Other books/problems I struggled, figured it out myself, and I can recreate that solution like it was yesterday.

Re: New theory proposes ‘forgetting’ is a form of learning

#13

I wonder if this is related to the effect of being better at something after not doing it for a while. When it comes to a lot of things I do repetitively, I notice that there comes a point where either my skill doesn't improve or I actually get worse at what I'm doing. Then I'll take a day or more off, and when I come back suddenly I'm a total boss. The brain probably needs rest time to throw out the bad input and th…

I've discovered much the same. If you visualize yourself doing the activity during the break, it actually accelerates the learning process.

Re: New theory proposes ‘forgetting’ is a form of learning

#16
post #9

I wonder if this is related to the effect of being better at something after not doing it for a while. When it comes to a lot of things I do repetitively, I notice that there comes a point where either my skill doesn't improve or I actually get worse at what I'm doing. Then I'll take a day or more off, and when I come back suddenly I'm a total boss. The brain probably needs rest time to throw out the bad input and th…

An old mentor of mine once said some thing I found very profound: “Learning is like eating; you can choose what you consume. But knowing is like digesting; it will happen regardless, and in its own time. You only have control over eating, so eat well and frequently” There’s really a little leap of faith any time we want to learn something, because we don’t actually control how or when it fits into our brain or body,…

I frequently find myself contributing to conversations with knowledge that I don't recall specifically learning. Once in a while, I think "Wow, how did I come up with something that insightful? When did I ever learn that?"

It seems there's a background activity in the mind that is actually synthesizing a wide variety of inputs from our environment. As in what I read, movies I watch, meetings I sit in on, Tweets that transpire, hikes I take, visits to distant cities, and so on. In many cases, it seems the connections and support for ideas, notions and realizations that then become knowledge are made without explicitly reasoning through them.

I'd say this happens most frequently in conversations related to my work, which makes sense since that's where most of the inputs are sourced.

Re: New theory proposes ‘forgetting’ is a form of learning

#17
I read something interesting recently about how most discussion of brain function is 'tainted' by metaphor, these days usually involving computers. Basically the concept was that our brains don't process and store information like a computer does, but because computers come the closest to accomplishing what our brains do it's the easiest point of reference for us when discussing brain function.

Since I don't really know anything about brain science and know a little about computer science I find it pretty hard to escape that metaphor and imagine how a brain can function without doing what a computer does. This type of article does give me a bit of an inkling though.

Re: New theory proposes ‘forgetting’ is a form of learning

#18
post #17

I read something interesting recently about how most discussion of brain function is 'tainted' by metaphor, these days usually involving computers. Basically the concept was that our brains don't process and store information like a computer does, but because computers come the closest to accomplishing what our brains do it's the easiest point of reference for us when discussing brain function. Since I don't really k…

I wonder if conversely computer architecture is similar to the brain in at least some macro-structural ways because something about the function of the brain makes it easier for it to design something similar to itself.

Re: New theory proposes ‘forgetting’ is a form of learning

#19

I wonder if this is related to the effect of being better at something after not doing it for a while. When it comes to a lot of things I do repetitively, I notice that there comes a point where either my skill doesn't improve or I actually get worse at what I'm doing. Then I'll take a day or more off, and when I come back suddenly I'm a total boss. The brain probably needs rest time to throw out the bad input and th…

I began playing piano last year and this blew my mind. I’d play 30-60 mins a day, and every single time this was true: I was better on my first try the next day than my best try the previous day.
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