**To actually learn things, the process shouldn't be too easy.** Learning routines is easy, but non-transferable. Learning by repetition is good for short term recall, but not good for long-term. Learning using hints helps make you "feel" like you've learned something more quickly, but takes away ultimate learning. Block learning, intensely focusing on one subject, then moving on, is a bad way to actually *learn* something. **The best, scientifically-backed learning mechanisms include the use of cross-cutting ties.** > [!tldr] ➡️ Learning lesson in short: Easy come, easy go. In [[The Organized Mind]], Daniel Levitin says **items that are processed with more active involvement are more deeply encoded in the brain**. We remember better and learn more when we process. This was reinforced in [[Smarter, Faster, Better]] in which Charles Duhigg spoke about "disfluency" and how it was advantageous for actually learning. Students who hand-wrote their notes did a better job than students who rapidly transcribed what their teachers were saying. The typists got way more of the information copied, but didn't have to *process* it as much. By hand-writing things students are slowed to the point where the cannot possibly capture everything, and therefore must continually separate out the wheat from the chaff. A further step in this direction leads you into the realm of [[Visual Notetaking]]. In episode 1 of [[Huberman Labs]], Dr. Andrew Huberman talked about how neuroplasticity in adults (basically the ability to learn & change) is only possible due to stressors. Like anything the body maintains homeostasis until a stress is put on it that forces it to adapt. ## Example Research scientists gave psych students a list of words, then tested their recall of those words. The independent variable was the situation in which they learned them. Group 1: Given the words, asked to recall the list immediately. Group 2: Given the words, allowed to practice them for 15 seconds, then asked to recall the list. Group 3: Given the words, given a few simple mathematical problems to solve, then asked to recall the list. In the **immediate recall** test, the groups success of the groups was as expected, in descending order. **Group 1 was better than Group 2, which was better than Group 3.** However - all three groups were *also* asked to recall the words ~30 minutes later. In this **delayed recall** test, the groups performed exactly the opposite. **Group 3 was better than Group 2, which was better than Group 1**. **** ### Source - [[Range - Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World]] - [[The Organized Mind]] - [[Smarter, Faster, Better]] - [[Ultralearning]] - [[Huberman Labs]] ### Related - [[Memories are Associative]] - [[Think, Don't Remember]] - [[Writing is Thinking]] - [[Overlearning ]] - [[Retrieval]]