Focusing Your Unconscious Mind: Learn Hard Concepts Intuitively (And Forever)

Colin Galen
18 Dec 202219:21
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe speaker, a competitive programmer, shares insights on intuitive learning and long-term retention of concepts. They emphasize understanding the 'big picture', breaking down complex ideas, and the importance of caring about the subject. The core of the method involves trying to invent the concept, internalizing the solution, reinforcing understanding through practice and exploration, and contributing to an 'ecosystem of learning'. The speaker dismisses the relevance of IQ, advocating for persistence and confidence in one's learning capabilities.

Takeaways
  • 🧠 Intuitive Learning: Learning concepts becomes second nature when they are hardwired into the brain as fundamental truths.
  • 💡 Understanding Concepts: Grasping a concept intuitively means accepting it without needing justification, making it a part of your reasoning process.
  • 📈 Incremental Learning: Break down complex ideas into smaller, manageable pieces to avoid overwhelming yourself and facilitate better understanding.
  • 🔍 The Big Picture: Start by understanding the overarching purpose or 'big picture' of a concept before diving into the details.
  • 🤔 Inventing Concepts: Try to come up with the concept or solution on your own to engage deeply with the material and stimulate your brain's problem-solving capacity.
  • 💭 Caring and Motivation: Genuine interest or motivation in the subject matter can significantly enhance learning and memory retention.
  • 🗣️ Explaining for Understanding: The ability to explain a concept in your own words to someone else is a strong indicator of true understanding.
  • 🔄 Reinforcement: Regularly revisiting and practicing a concept helps to reinforce it in your mind, ensuring long-term retention.
  • 🌐 Ecosystem of Learning: Sharing your insights and explanations publicly contributes to a collective learning environment and helps others.
  • 🚫 Disregard IQ Beliefs: Focus on the learning process rather than attributing success or failure to innate intelligence or IQ.
  • 🌟 Practice and Engagement: Engage with the concept as much as possible through practice, exploration, and application to solidify your understanding.
Q & A
  • What does the speaker mean by 'learning concepts intuitively'?

    -The speaker refers to the ability to accept and process a concept as a fundamental truth without needing to justify it. It means the brain is hardwired to understand the concept as a fact, making it second nature and easily reasoned with.

  • How does the speaker suggest one should treat the learning process?

    -The speaker suggests treating learning like problem-solving, leveraging the brain's immense problem-solving capacity in both thinking and remembering. The process involves breaking down concepts into small, manageable pieces and tackling them one by one.

  • What is the importance of 'caring' in the learning process according to the speaker?

    -Caring about the subject or concept enhances memory retention, encourages the brain to generate more insights, and makes the learning process easier. It also motivates the learner to engage more deeply with the material.

  • How does the speaker propose one should understand a concept?

    -The speaker proposes starting with understanding the big picture, then gradually diving into the details. This involves understanding the concept in context, by itself, and reinforcing it through practice and exploration.

  • What is the 'ecosystem of learning' the speaker mentions?

    -The 'ecosystem of learning' is the speaker's idea where individuals learn concepts, explain them to test their understanding, and contribute those explanations to the public. This contributes to a collective knowledge base that can benefit others in the future.

  • What role does the unconscious brain play in the learning process?

    -The unconscious brain plays a significant role in developing intuition. It processes and internalizes problems or concepts when the learner cares deeply about them, working silently in the background to craft responses or solutions over time.

  • How does the speaker feel about the concept of IQ and innate ability?

    -The speaker believes that focusing on IQ or innate ability is unhelpful and potentially a form of self-deception. They argue that anyone is capable of learning anything, given enough time and effort, and that comparing oneself to others is unnecessary when one can focus on improving their own learning process.

  • What is the significance of trying to 'invent' a concept or piece of knowledge?

    -Trying to 'invent' a concept forces the brain to engage deeply with the material, potentially leading to a more intuitive understanding. It also helps to create a mental gap that the actual solution can fill, aiding in long-term retention of the concept.

  • How does the speaker recommend reinforcing a concept or idea?

    -The speaker recommends reinforcing a concept through practice, applying the concept to various problems, explaining it to others, and exploring related ideas. This multifaceted approach helps to embed the concept more firmly in the brain.

  • What is the speaker's advice for maintaining a concept in long-term memory?

    -The speaker advises to keep thinking about and engaging with the concept regularly. Even after mastering it, occasional practice and exploration can help keep the concept fresh in the mind and prevent forgetting.

  • Why does the speaker emphasize breaking down complex concepts into smaller pieces?

    -Breaking down complex concepts helps to avoid overwhelming the learner and allows for a more manageable approach to understanding. It enables the learner to tackle each piece individually, making the overall concept easier to grasp.

Outlines
00:00
💡 Intuitive Learning and Competitive Programming

The speaker, a competitive programmer, discusses the concept of intuitive learning and how it applies to their field. They explain that intuitive understanding means accepting a concept as a fundamental truth without needing justification, akin to the intuitive knowledge of simple math. The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning concepts to remember them long-term, not just for short-term memorization. They introduce a method for learning that involves understanding the big picture, generating insights, treating learning like problem-solving, and breaking down concepts into manageable pieces. The speaker also encourages caring about the subject matter as a way to facilitate learning and retention.

05:01
🔍 Deepening Understanding through Personal Involvement

The speaker delves into the process of deepening one's understanding of a concept by personally caring about it. They argue that caring enhances memory and the brain's problem-solving capacity. The speaker suggests that even if one is not initially passionate about a subject, there are ways to cultivate interest, such as being motivated by the end result or taking annoyance at not understanding something as a personal challenge. They emphasize the importance of trying to invent or discover the concept on one's own before looking at the solution, as this engages the brain and helps internalize the problem deeply. The speaker also discusses the unconscious brain's role in developing intuition and how caring about a problem can lead to insights even after the problem has been set aside.

10:03
🧠 Reinforcing Concepts through Active Engagement

The speaker outlines a four-step process for reinforcing concepts to ensure long-term retention. The process begins with attempting to invent the concept, followed by practicing it, understanding it well enough to explain it to others, and finally exploring related ideas to gain more insights. The speaker emphasizes the importance of practicing the concept in various contexts to gain a deeper understanding and to embed the concept into one's reasoning. They also stress the value of explaining the concept to someone else as a way to confirm understanding and simplify the representation of the concept. The speaker encourages exploring variations of the concept and discussing it with others to challenge assumptions and enhance comprehension.

15:04
🌐 Building an Ecosystem of Learning and the Role of IQ

The speaker discusses the idea of contributing to an 'ecosystem of learning' by sharing insights and explanations publicly, regardless of one's expertise level. They suggest that any insights gained could benefit others and contribute to a collective understanding. The speaker also addresses the concept of IQ, dismissing it as a significant factor in learning. They argue that believing in innate abilities can be detrimental, as it shifts the focus from actionable effort to unchangeable traits. Instead, the speaker advocates for confidence, introspection, and the belief that anyone can learn anything with enough time and effort. They conclude by encouraging viewers to practice the learning method described, assuring that it works well, though it may be more suitable for complex subjects and may require adaptation for simpler or less problem-oriented concepts.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Intuitive Understanding
Intuitive understanding refers to the ability to grasp a concept as a fundamental truth without needing to justify it. In the context of the video, it is likened to the immediate knowledge that adding two and two results in five, where the brain processes this fact without question. This type of understanding is the goal of the learning method described, as it allows for effortless reasoning and application of concepts.
💡Insights
Insights are described as random thoughts or pieces of knowledge that help deepen one's understanding of a concept. They can be the purpose behind a particular step or an example that clarifies an idea. The video emphasizes generating as many insights as possible, as they contribute to a richer and more intuitive understanding of the material.
💡Problem Solving
Problem solving is approached as a core aspect of learning in the video. The brain's capacity to solve problems is leveraged to understand and remember concepts. The process involves breaking down complex ideas into smaller, manageable parts and tackling them one by one, which helps in internalizing the concept more effectively.
💡Caring
Caring, in the context of the video, is about being emotionally invested in the learning process. It is suggested that when one cares about the subject or the concept being learned, it enhances memory retention, encourages the brain to generate more insights, and makes the learning process easier. The speaker advises finding ways to care about the material, whether through passion or motivation by end results.
💡Invention
Invention, as used in the video, refers to the process of trying to come up with a concept or solution on one's own before learning how it is traditionally done. This ancient brain technique forces the brain to engage deeply with the problem, making the eventual solution more memorable and intuitive. It is a way of forcing the brain to care about the concept and to internalize it more effectively.
💡Reinforcement
Reinforcement in the video refers to the process of solidifying a concept in one's mind through repeated engagement with it. This involves practicing the concept, explaining it to others, and exploring its variations to ensure it is retained in long-term memory. The goal is to make the concept second nature, so it becomes an intuitive part of one's thinking.
💡Abstraction
Abstraction is the process of simplifying complex ideas or details into a more general form to understand the big picture. In the video, the speaker uses the metaphor of a 'magic box' to describe this concept, where one understands the purpose and output of the box without knowing its inner workings. This approach allows for a broad understanding before delving into specifics.
💡Ecosystem of Learning
The ecosystem of learning refers to a community or environment where individuals learn, share their insights, and contribute to a collective understanding. The video suggests that by sharing one's understanding, no matter how disorganized or incomplete, one can contribute to this ecosystem and help others learn more intuitively.
💡IQ
IQ, or Intelligence Quotient, is discussed in the video as a concept that is often seen as a measure of one's innate ability to learn. However, the speaker argues against the belief in IQ as a significant factor, suggesting that it is more beneficial to focus on learning and effort rather than relying on the notion of fixed intelligence.
💡Memorization
Memorization is contrasted with the learning method described in the video. While memorization is described as a short-term solution, the method提倡的是一种长期的理解,即通过大脑重构来接受概念作为绝对真理。这种方法强调了理解和应用概念的重要性,而不是简单地记住它们。
Highlights

The speaker is a competitive programmer who excels at learning and applying complex concepts.

Competitive programming involves learning random, often unused, concepts but being able to apply them when necessary.

Intuitive understanding of a concept means accepting it as a fundamental truth without needing justification.

The brain can be rewired to accept new concepts as absolute truths through the learning process.

The method for learning involves generating insights, treating learning like problem-solving, and caring about the subject.

Breaking down concepts into small pieces prevents overwhelming oneself and allows for focused learning.

Memorization is different from the method described, which aims for long-term understanding and brain rewiring.

Understanding the big picture is crucial before diving into the details of a concept.

The 'black box' approach starts with understanding the purpose without knowing the inner workings.

To truly understand a concept, one should try to invent it from scratch before looking at existing solutions.

Caring about a problem or concept leads to longer retention and a deeper understanding.

Explaining a concept to others in your own words is a strong indicator of true understanding.

Exploring variations of a concept and asking 'dumb' questions can lead to deeper insights and understanding.

The learning method described is particularly effective for problem-solving oriented fields like competitive programming and theoretical computer science.

The speaker suggests contributing to an 'ecosystem of learning' by sharing insights and explanations publicly, regardless of expertise level.

Believing in fixed IQ can be detrimental, as it shifts the blame from one's learning methods to an innate, unchangeable factor.

The speaker's method emphasizes the importance of engaging with the concept, reinforcing understanding, and practicing to internalize learning.

Transcripts
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