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Preferably do this while wearing a bluetooth headset (it can be turned off) so people don't think you are crazy.
As Socrates relates it, the Egyptian god Theuth describes various inventions to the king Thamus:
"But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the memory and for the wit. Thamus replied: O most ingenious Theuth, the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality."
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:tex...
Seems like it works the same way that showing somebody else your unfixable bug and explaining to them why it's impossible works for fixing it. Having to teach/explain/write about a topic without a book forces you to examine your implicit beliefs about it, to show you where you've left holes.
Can't help but add Socrates' comments to Phaedrus in the Plato's dialogue Phaedrus (around section 274), to the effect that writing destroys man's faculty of memory, and bestows only a superficial sort of learning. As Socrates relates it, the Egyptian god Theuth describes various inventions to the king Thamus: "But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memori…
This reminds me of the single best advice ever given to me about how to learn a difficult subject: Pretend that you are teaching it to an invisible audience, lesson by lesson. It is amazing how much faster you can comprehend even very complex topics this way. Preferably do this while wearing a bluetooth headset (it can be turned off) so people don't think you are crazy.
Can't help but add Socrates' comments to Phaedrus in the Plato's dialogue Phaedrus (around section 274), to the effect that writing destroys man's faculty of memory, and bestows only a superficial sort of learning. As Socrates relates it, the Egyptian god Theuth describes various inventions to the king Thamus: "But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memori…
BTW strictly speaking, that's criticizing reading, not writing. Which may sound like a distinction without a difference, but I find the act of writing improves my recall; and, sadly, reading my notes profoundly unenlightening.
Also, the article says it's even more effective (I must try this) to say it aloud. I expect further interactivity with ones mental model (problem solving, discussion, argument) improves it further still.
Seems like it works the same way that showing somebody else your unfixable bug and explaining to them why it's impossible works for fixing it. Having to teach/explain/write about a topic without a book forces you to examine your implicit beliefs about it, to show you where you've left holes.
I think you're partially right, but I think there's also something else going on here. The key about the memory is recall. Just writing multiple times (ie reading the book over and over) doesn't increase the reliability of memorization as much as reading the address. It seems the act of forcing the brain to find the information makes it put more effort into indexing that piece of info. I think that's apart from the e…
I've noticed that I know I lot of things that are difficult for me to recall: there's not much point having something in memory if you can't recall it, so maybe that's the important thing to practice?
The interesting thing, to me, is that this effect could serve as an explanation for the phenomenon described yesterday in http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=580209 . Namely, the independent study technique might naturally encourage this mode of learning by sheer accident. In short, you are studying to prepare for a discussion, rather than memorizing for an exam. This naturally causes you to 'close the book', recall,…
You may also learn something from the discussion itself, become aware of gaps, fill those gaps, get addition points of view and ways to think about it, reasons for holding opinions, which ones seem right but are wrong and why (and which ones seemed stupid at first but - dramatically - aren't). The social aspect, and the competitive aspect, will help you engage. Later, you might even recall some aspects episodically, e.g. "Jones said this, and Bloggs undercut him, and then I showed they were both wrong, and everyone laughed". Memorable.
I agree that anticipation of a discussion will also make your preparation for it more effective.
This reminds me of the single best advice ever given to me about how to learn a difficult subject: Pretend that you are teaching it to an invisible audience, lesson by lesson. It is amazing how much faster you can comprehend even very complex topics this way. Preferably do this while wearing a bluetooth headset (it can be turned off) so people don't think you are crazy.
Best use of bluetooth headsets ever (I hate them)
My take away on this is that I never bothered reading my lecture notes, I took notes only to write down what I heard to improve my recall of it.
Also, I often tried to hold a mini lecture or summary when I was studying with my friends to see if what I understood was transferable to them, and if not, what I was missing to make it so. Often it was me lacking understanding in some area, but unconciously denying it.