Learning

This is the method I use to learn. I've found it very helpful, and I hope you do too.

Flashcards

Anki is a flashcard app that lets you easily remember anything forever. All you have to do is make a flashcard and study it.

It’s used a lot in Medical school, because people have to remember lots of facts there.

Anki is better than normal flashcards because you only study it when you need to. Instead of studying a flashcard every week for the rest of your life, you study it only when you're about to forget it.

Maybe that will be one day, then a month from then, six months afterward, and so on. This way, you spend less time studying each flashcard but can remember it forever.

So, go and download Anki. It's incredible software that will improve your learning.

Interleaving

Anki has a feature called decks. You don't want to use different decks; you want to have one deck only.

The reason for this is "interleaving". Basically, you want your studies to look like a random assortment of different topics. Maybe you'll study a flashcard on math, then science, then writing techniques, then programming, and so on. It will all be random and interleaved with each other.

This lets your mind naturally make connections between ideas.

In real life, you want to be able to see things in the context of other things. You can make connections between these ideas, like programming and math. You might think, "Oh, wait, I can use this math in that way," or "I can use this programming idea in math." It just makes your knowledge more connected, and that's very important.

Flashcard format

This is the format:

Q: "Category: Question?"

A: "Answer (Source)"

Putting the category at the start puts your brain in the context of, "Okay, I'm thinking about math," or "I'm thinking about science right now." It saves you time and prevents other areas of the brain from activating.

Examples:

Bad: What does fetch() do in Javascript? Makes network requests

Good: JS: What does fetch() do? Makes network requests

Short flashcards

You want your questions to be as short as possible because this reduces the number of paths to getting that answer. Fewer paths strengthen that path, so if you are introduced to a question, you want to think of the exact same answer every time. Making your answers very short helps with this.

Also, each flashcard should cover exactly one idea. No more.

Examples:

Bad: US: What year was the US established? The US was established in 1776

Good: US: Year established? 1776

Reverse flashcards

For some questions, you want to have the reverse of that flashcard as well—two flashcards for each.

This is very helpful for definitions because you can memorize both paths leading to that concept.

Memory often works one way; you might remember that A leads to B but not that B leads to A. So you have to strengthen both directions, sometimes.

For example:

"Definition of instrumental rationality?" "Systematically achieving your goals"

So you'll remember the definition of instrumental rationality. But you might not remember what the word for "Systematically achieving your goals" is.

To fix this, make the reverse of that card. Like so:

"Word for systematically achieving your goals?" "Instrumental rationality"

Examples:

"German: What does Haus mean?" "House"

"German: Word for house?" "Haus"

"Why" cards

There's a huge difference between knowing that something is true and knowing why it is true.

Knowing why it's true is way more important. Knowing why leads to understanding. With many of your questions, you want to ask, "Why is this true?" and make a flashcard from that.

Avoid terms

I don't like to make flashcards based on terms. A term adds another breakpoint to your learning. For example, if you memorize that "priming is your brain making connections between things," you can use that, but it's often better to use the definition of the term directly. This way, you can understand things and make connections between them.

Examples

You want to have many examples of the concept and compare and contrast those examples.

This allows you to make connections between those things and be able to use them in real life.

For example, you might know what the Pythagorean Theorem. But struggle to recognize real-life situations where it's used.

To fix this, think of three real-life examples. Then, find what's the same and what's different in the examples.

This helps you grasp the idea and use it in real life.

(That's why I include three examples for each concept—to show how it's used in real life.)

There's a big difference between knowing something and being able to use it in real life.

If you can, memorize the examples. For example, ask yourself, "What is (a^3)^4?" and test yourself to see if you know the answer. (It's a^12)

Feynman technique

A great way to ensure that you actually know something is to explain it to a fifth grader. This is the Feynman Technique.

Explain it simply, and as you do, you'll come across things you don't know.

When that happens:

-Return to the source material

-Fill the gaps in your knowledge

-Continue explaining until you understand the concept well.

For the Feynman Technique, I often use ChatGPT to fill in my gaps of knowledge, because it's easy to ask a question and get an answer.

Free learning tutor

On the topic of ChatGPT (or any AI provider), it's an amazing learning tutor.

I ask it tons of questions every day, and it helps me solidify my understanding.

It's also how I get my examples and make Anki flashcards.

If you have a question, it's like an expert on that topic who can answer and help you understand.

I have a few prompts that I'll copy here so people can use them.

No multitasking

When you learn, avoid multitasking.

Your brain is not designed to handle many tasks at once. Instead, it's switching between tasks. This is bad for your attention because some of your focus remains on the old task.

It's more effective to learn by doing one task at a time.

Keep in mind that whenever you are learning, you want to be very focused and avoid distractions. Put away your phone, don't switch tasks, and learn until you understand it.

My process

My process for learning looks like this:

• I'll read a text
• When I find something I want to remember, I copy and paste it into a text document.
• Every day, I go through the text document and make Anki flashcards from it.
• I make sure to create both the base flashcard, the reverse flashcard, and "why" flashcards if needed.
• As I make these, I ensure that I understand the material and use the Feynman Technique when writing these posts. This ensures I actually understand the content.
• Then, I use ChatGPT to convert the flashcards into a CSV file.
• Import them into Anki.
• Study them every day.