• doctors are told at the beginning of their degree that half the things they learn during their degree will be moot by the time they graduate
  • so there is something to be said about constant learning
  • and something to be said about the hyprocrite’s oath
• following is some pop-culture basics of learning

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learning modes

• in line with how the brain works according to the brain’s working
  • two fundamentally different modes of learning
    • focussed mode
    • diffused mode
• both metaphor and analogy are useful when learning something new
• cannot be in both thinking modes at the same time
  • like a coin, cannot see both side of a coin at the same time

focussed mode

• this is like a pinball machine with densely spaced bumpers
• thoughts are like the ball in the machine
• patterns are how the pinball maves in between the bumpers
• there are only so many patterns possible
• relies on diffuse thinking mode to get new patterns
  • SNR of new patterns is subtle until it fully sets in
• zombie like thinking
• cast light strongly in one path, while leaving the rest dark
• the pinball cant go very far, but useful for step-by-step problem solving

diffused mode

• this is like a pinball machine with sparsely spaced bumpers
• diffused thinking mode is a broad, big picture process
• necessary for understandng something hasnt been understood before
• necessary for finding solutions for problems that have not been faced before
• brings in new thought patterns into the metaphorical pinball frame
• does not cost light in one region strongly, but lights up all areas diffusely

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using the modes

• brain has amazing ablities, but no instruction manual
• a lot of crazy dead people (Thomas Edison, Salvodor Dali) used to almost fall asleep and harras themselves into waking up using tricks
  • to force the diffuse thinking and then gather the new thoughts in their waking state
• similar to body-building, a little neural work in diffused and focussed thinking has to be done everyday under a regiment to strengthen the two systems
  • constant effort is the T R I C K
• learning something difficult takes takes time, and more so for people conditioned with only one type of thinking

learning

• the brain is allegedly useful to learn new things
• it supposedly consumes three time more energy per unit weigth compared to the rest of the body
  • thoughts, hopes and fears are allegedly in the neurons of the brain
• chess and math are supposedly prized abilities of the brain
  • reading being able to screw fellow humans
  • and keep tabs on fellow humans
• most of the heavy lifting is done under the hood, in the subsconscious
  • it is not necessary to know how this works to survive
• different parts of the brain are active during interaction with the world and when resting
  • the parts dedicated to interacting with the world turn off when resting and vice-versa
• brain connections are dynamic, even after it matures
• new synapses are formed and other disappear
  • memory is still stable after many years
• new synapses are formed on a dendrite after a learning and rest cycle
• synapses are less than a micron in diameter
  • human hair is 10 microns in diameter
• so, technically, a brain wakes up with an upgrade when it wakes up
  • insomnia affects learning and problem solving skills
• brain behavior reference

procrasination

• arises from the fact that you can be working only on one thing at a time

• if one thing is being worked on, other things are not being worked on

• when a activity that is not desirable to do is considered, the pain centers (insular cortex) in the brain are activated
• the brain is designed to look for paths to avoid that negative experience
  • however, for some activities, the pain centers get activated less when the brain learns to do the activity better

procrastination and pomodoro

• pomodoro is italian for learning
• it is allegedly a technique of using a timer
  • 25 minutes of uninterrupted work
  • then a reward at the end of the 25 minutes for focussing
    • may include a cup of coffee, bite of chocolate, sex, strecthing, mindless chatting etc
• the goal is to rest the focussed thinking mode and turn on the resitng mode
  • key is there should be no focussed activity after that 25 minutes

practice makes permanent

• neural thought patterns are real physical objects
• they are weak when a new thing is being learnt
• practise makes these patterns strong i.e. permanent
• a little eveyrday helps build a strong foundation while learning something new
• all at one causes the learning system to fail and associate negative thoughts to the idea of learning and the thing being learnt
• this strengthens procrastination
• so pomodoro technique is usedto avoid too much at once to prevent learning overload

memory

• spaced repetetion helps settle in new concepts stronger

• while learning something new, repeating it 20 times spread across 20 days is better than 20 times in a single day

• on the same lines pomodoro is done in cycles of 30 minutes, with 5 minutes of break between each 25 minute block

sleep

• the wake state creates neuro toxins in the brain
• during sleep, neurons shrink and the brain fluid washes the toxins out
• sleep helps brain clean up toxins, so it is an essential part of brian maintenance
• lack of sleep increases toxicity in the brain and prevents it from functioning correctly
  • sacrificing sleep is like shooting one self in the foot
• too little sleep for a long period of time causes headaches, depression, heart diseases, diabetes and causes earlier death
• during sleep the brain rehearses some of the tougher parts of whatever is being learnt
  • the temporary deactivation of the prefrontal cortex during sleep helps the other parts of the brain talk easily to one other
  • this helps them put together solutions to new taks begin learned
  • dreaming allegedly consolidates memories into easier to grasp chunks
• exercise also is allegedly supposed to improve learning and memory capabilities

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